Upper Iowa upset the defending NSIC tournament champion Northern State University Wolves by a 95-86 count Friday night. The victory was UIU's first road win this season. The Peacocks were in control for the entirety of the game as they held the lead or were tied with the Wolves for all forty minutes. Following the win, Upper Iowa improves to 7-6, 4-3 in conference play. Northern State falls to 9-4 on the year, 5-2 in NSIC play.
Upper Iowa held the lead throughout the first half. The Peacocks pushed their advantage to as high as nine points. UIU went up 33-24 with 5:41 to play in the frame following a 9-2 run. Upper Iowa maintained the nine-point lead into the break as the Peacocks led 43-34 at halftime.
Upper Iowa held the advantage on the boards as they out rebounded Northern State 16-12 in the first half. The Peacocks capitalized on the fastbreak, out scoring the Wolves 11-4 on the move.
Joe Smoldt led all scorers with ten first half points. Smoldt was 4-7 (57%) from the floor and came down with three rebounds in the half. Lucas Duax was right behind Smoldt on the stat sheet with nine points. Duax went 4-5 (80%) from the field, snagged three steals and dished out two assists in the first frame.Â
Upper Iowa's success continued into the second half. UIU extended their lead to double-digits when Jareese Williams drained a corner three to put the Peacocks up 64-54 with 8:49 to go. The make was Williams' fourth three-pointer on the night.
The Peacocks went on a 10-2 run that extended their lead to 14, their largest lead of the evening with 1:43 to play. A pair of threes from the red-hot Williams fueled the stretch that put the Peacocks up 82-68.Â
Upper Iowa finished strong, making 15 free throws on 18 attempts in the final two minutes to secure the victory at 95-86.
STATS OF THE GAME…Â
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Upper Iowa held the advantage from the charity stripe converting 27-34 (79.4%) compared to a 16-23 (69.6%) mark posted by Northern State.
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The Peacocks (6) tallied double the steals the Wolves (3) had on the night.
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Upper Iowa's second unit out scored the Northern State reserves 33-19.
PEACOCKS OF THE GAME…Â
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Williams led the flock with 24 points. He went 6-10 (60%) from the field including 6-9 (66.7%) from beyond the arc. Williams also was a perfect 6-6 from the charity stripe and came down with six boards on the night.
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Smoldt followed with 18 points. He went 6-8 (75%) from the free throw line and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds.
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Duax finished with 13 points and was a nearly flawless 6-7 (85.7%) from the field. Duax also had four assists and four steals in the contest.
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Jackson Joens added 10 points as he went 7-8 (87.5%) from the charity stripe.
UP NEXT… The Peacocks will head north to Moorhead, Minn. where they will take on Minnesota State University Moorhead at 5:30 p.m. on Jan. 4. Live stats and a webcast will be available at UIUPeacocks.com/Live. The game will also stream live on the NSIC app through Roku and Fire devices, as well as Apple and Android TVs.
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