The Upper Iowa men's basketball will take the court for the final times this season in a pair of NSIC contests. The Peacocks will take on the Minnesota State Mavericks (17-9, 13-7 NSIC) on Friday night at 7:30 and then will host the Concordia – St. Paul Golden Bears (8-18, 3-17 NSIC) on Saturday at 5:30.
UIU wrapped up their final regular season road trip with games against Southwest Minnesota State and Sioux Falls. The Peacocks dropped both games, falling to the Mustangs on Friday night 65-90 and then were tripped up by the Cougars on Saturday 60-80.
Kyle Haber led the Peacocks scoring efforts against the Mustangs with 15 points on Friday night while
Chris Olson dropped 15 against the Cougars.
Senior Sendoff... Prior to Saturday's game against the Golden Bears, Upper Iowa will recognize their two Peacock seniors who will be playing their final game in Dorman Gymnasium. The two seniors who will be honored are
Munachiso Okonkwo and
Quentin Blaue who have led the Peacocks to a 45-46 record during their tenure at UIU. The pair have combined for 934 points, 526 rebounds, 50 double-figure scoring performances, while shooting 51.9 percent in their collective 136 games and 95 starts.
Long Distance Threats... In their game against Sioux Falls, the Cougars allowed the Peacocks to knock down just 5 of their 24 three-point attempts. This season the Peacocks have hit an NSIC-leading 288 shots from beyond the arc and have been held to five or less made three-pointers in only three games this season. Five players on UIU's roster are shooting at least 40 percent from distance:
Kyle Haber (46.3),
Chris Olson (45.3),
Jareese Williams (44.2),
Quentin Blaue (41.6), and
Jackson Joens (40.4).
Scouting the Opponents…
Minnesota State Mavericks… The Mavericks will roll into Dorman Gym with an NSIC South leading 13-7 record in conference contests. MSU has the NSIC's second ranked offense, averaging 82.9 points per game. The Mavericks' offense is led by junior forward Cameron Kirksey who is averaging 18 points per game this season and exploded for 43 points against Moorhead. MSU's top scorers are rounded out by Kevin Krieger 14.5 points per game, Carlos Anderson 14.3, and Juwan McCloud 11.7.
Concordia - St. Paul Golden Bears… The Golden Bears currently occupy the NSIC South's bottom spot along with UIU who both have 3-17 conference records. Isaiah McKay and Bryndan Matthews are the only Golden Bears averaging double figures this season, both recording 18.6 points per game for CSP. Matthews is ranked second in the NSIC with a 58.8 field goal percentage and is the only player in the conference to record a triple-double this season, recording 21 points, 13 rebounds, and
10 assists against St. Cloud State.
The Series…
Vs. The Mavericks… In their 26 all-time meetings against Minnesota State, the Peacocks have recorded a 5-21 record. The Peacocks stole the first game of the season against MSU, beating the Mavericks 80-74 on their own court.
Vs. The Golden Bears… Upper Iowa has squared off against CSP 30 times in program history with the Peacocks holding a 16-14 all-time record against the Golden Bears. Concordia earned the win in the first game of the season series but the Peacocks have taken eight of the last ten against CSP.
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. The games against the Mavericks and Golden Bears will also be aired locally on KCRG-TV 9.2.
