THE SHORT SCOOP… The Upper Iowa Peacocks played an eventful game Friday evening that resulted in a 110-100 overtime win versus Augustana University. With the upset victory, Upper Iowa improves to 8-7, 6-5 in conference play while the NSIC second place Vikings fall to an 11-4 mark, 6-3 in NSIC play. The Peacocks showed great improvements from their previous matchup against the Vikings which ended in a 27-point defeat. The 110 points scored tonight is the highest mark posted by the 2019-2020 Peacocks, it is the second time the team has scored over 100 points in a game this year.

NOT YOUR AVERAGE JOE… Perhaps the most notable moment of the night was Joe Smoldt's big performance that led to him surpassing 1,000 career points as a member of the Upper Iowa Peacocks. It took Smoldt, a junior, only 73 games to reach the milestone. Smoldt is just the 28th Upper Iowa men's basketball player to score 1,000 career points. He finished with a team-high 29 points in the victory.

DOWN TO THE WIRE… With 7:47 to play in regulation, Augustana held a commanding 74-67 lead. Upper Iowa was able to get within one point of the Vikings just 47 seconds later thanks to back-to-back three point makes. The Peacocks and the Vikings exchanged blow for blow until Augustana jumped out to an 87-81 lead with 2:14 to play. The Peacocks got within one point again, this time the driving force was a clutch three-pointer from Joe Smoldt that pushed him over the 1,000 point mark while putting the Peacocks back in the game with just 1:12 to go. Augustana made a layup followed by the two teams hitting three free throws apiece putting the game at 92-89 in favor of the Vikings with 14 seconds left on the clock. In heroic fashion, Lucas Duax hit a game-tying three-pointer with four seconds remaining. Augustana could not convert on their last attempt of regulation forcing overtime. 

FREE BASKETBALL… Augustana scored first in the extra period. However, from that point on the Peacocks controlled the game. A deep three-pointer from Jareese Williams sparked a 16-2 stretch which included 11 unanswered points posted by the Peacocks. The run put Upper Iowa ahead 103-94 with 1:27 on the clock. The Peacocks proceeded to make seven out of eight free throw attempts while the Vikings made three layups in the final moments of the game resulting in the 110-100 Upper Iowa win. Tonight's game was the second consecutive home game that resulted in an overtime victory for the Peacocks.

SLOW START… Augustana began the game on a 7-0 run. The Vikings pushed their lead to double-digits when back-to-back buckets from Tyler Riemersma made it 35-24 with 4:57 to go in the half. UIU trailed until a 10-2 run to close out the half tied things up at 42. Smoldt had seven of the 10 points scored during the stretch. 

SECOND HALF STRETCHES… Upper Iowa broke off on a 10-3 run early on in the second half that put the Peacocks up 58-51 with 14:22 left in regulation. A 7-0 advantage from Augustana immediately closed the gap and tied the game at 58 with 12:59 to play. An 8-2 stretch put the Vikings ahead 74-67 with 7:47 to go. That point was where UIU's comeback began.

STATS OF THE GAME… 

• Upper Iowa out shot Augustana from every scoring level: from the field UIU went 32-66 (48.5%) compared to 39-85 (45.9%) from AU, from three UIU went 17-30 (56.7%) while AU went 10-35 (28.6%), and from the charity stripe UIU converted 29-37 (78.4%) while AU posted a 12-17 (70.6%) mark.

• Upper Iowa's eight steals helped lead to 33 fastbreak points. UIU held the advantage over Augustana (3, 21) in both areas.

• UIU had six double-digit scorers: Smoldt (29), Joshua Carter (14), Williams (13), Duax (13), Cade Moritz (13), and Jake Hilmer (12).

• The Peacocks had three players dish out four or more assists: Carter (5), Hilmer (5) and Smoldt (4).

PEACOCKS OF THE GAME… 

• Smoldt … 29 points, 7/9 (77.8%) from the field including 5/6 (83.3%) from deep, 10/10 from the free throw line, five rebounds, four assists.

• Carter … 14 points, 5/10 (50%) from the floor, seven rebounds, five assists, two steals, two blocks.

• Hilmer … 12 points, five rebounds, five assists, two steals.

• Duax … 13 points, 7/8 (87.5%) from the charity stripe, five rebounds, two steals.

• Moritz … 13 points, 6/9 (66.7%) from the field, four blocks, three rebounds, three assists.

• Williams … 13 points, three rebounds.

QUOTABLE... 
 

UP NEXT… Upper Iowa will host Wayne State College on Saturday, Jan. 11 at 5:30 p.m. Live options will be available at UIUPeacocks.com/LIVE.