This Week In Peacocks Basketball... For the final time this season, the Upper Iowa men's basketball team will hit the road for a pair of NSIC contests against the Southwest Minnesota State Mustangs and the University of Sioux Falls Cougars. The Peacocks will take on the SMSU Mustangs (13-11, 10-8 NSIC) on Friday night at 7:30pm ahead of their Saturday night matchup against the USF Cougars (15-9, 10-8 NSIC).

Weekend Recap... Upper Iowa is coming off a pair of NSIC losses in Dorman Gym last week at the hands of UMary and Minot State. The Peacocks fell to the Marauders on Friday night 78-72 before dropping Saturday's contest to the Beavers 87-84. Joe Smoldt tied his career high 27 points in Saturday's tilt against Minot State and averaged 23 points for the weekend. In Saturday's game against the beavers, Upper Iowa shot a season high 58.3 percent from the field, connecting on 28 of 48 attempts. 

20-20 Vision... Joe Smoldt's 27-point performance against Minot State marks the 18th time this season that a Peacock has eclipsed 20 points in a single game. Smoldt accomplished the feat for the eighth time in his career and tied Jareese Williams with the team high five 20-point nights. Four other Peacocks have dropped 20 or more points in a game this season: Munachiso Okonkwo and Chris Olson have done it three times this year, and Jackson Joens and Kyle Haber each have one 20-point performance to their names. 

Efficient Shooting... This season, the Peacocks have gone 0-13 in games where their opponents shoot better from the field but have won six of the ten games where UIU has been the more accurate shooters. UIU has been able to hold opponents to under 50 percent shooting in 14 of their 24 games this season. However, the Peacocks have shot better than 50 percent in seven games this year. 

About the Opponents…

SMSU Mustangs… The Mustangs were swept last weekend by the MSU Moorhead Dragons and Northern State Wolves, dropping their season record to 13-11 (10-5 NSIC). SMSU is led by senior guard Ryan Bruggeman whose 25.1 points per game leads the conference and currently ranks seventh in the nation. Bruggeman also leads the NSIC in steals, averaging 2.1 steals per game this season. Two other Mustangs are putting up double-figure numbers this season; Taylor Schafer is averaging 13.5 points per game and Kenny Byers is averaging 10.3 points in his 23 appearances this season.

USF Cougars… Sioux Falls has been a force off the glass this season, ranking first in the NSIC with 41.4 boards per game. The Cougars +10.5 rebound margin not only leads the conference, but also ranks third among all Division II programs. A pair of Cougars has led USF's offense this season, three-time NSIC Player of the Week Trevon Evans and Drew Guebert. Evans is averaging 23.3 points per game and Guebert is just shy of the 20-point mark, averaging 19.4 points per game. 

The Series...

Against the Mustangs…  In the 28 all-time meetings between the UIU and SMSU men's basketball programs, the Mustangs hold the record 20-8. The Mustangs claimed the first meeting between these two sides early this year, earning an 87-91 victory in Dorman Gym. 

Against the Cougars… The Peacocks hold a slight advantage over the Cougars in the all-time series at 7-6. Earlier this season, the Cougars came to Fayette and left with an 81-72 victory. 

Both games this weekend can be viewed at uiupeacocks.com/live on a live webcast with live stats available as well as on the NSIC channel through Roku, Amazon Fire, Apple and Android tvs.