Upper Iowa defeated the University of Minnesota Duluth by an 84-79 count on Saturday evening. The win is Peacocks' seventh victory in their last eight games. Following the win, Upper Iowa improves to 14-8 overall, 11-5 in the NSIC while Minnesota Duluth falls to 16-6, 11-5 in conference play. 

The Bulldogs jumped out to an early 12-2 lead to begin the game. The Peacocks then rattled off seven unanswered points making it a one-possession game with 13:52 to go in the first half. Upper Iowa gained the lead for the first time amid an 11-2 stretch that put UIU up 37-32 with 0:52 to play in the first frame. The Bulldogs made a layup in the final moments of the half putting the score at 37-34 heading into the break.

Lucas Duax led the Peacocks in Points with 10, rebounds with five and assists with three in the first half. Duax also went 5-6 (83.3%) from the field.

Upper Iowa went on a 7-0 run to go up 48-40, their largest lead of the game with 14:58 to play. The Bulldogs countered with a 7-2 stretch to get within four points, making the game 60-56 with 7:00 on the clock.

The remainder of the game was closely contested but the Peacocks never gave up the lead. Upper Iowa held a 24-23 advantage in the final 6:10. Jake Hilmer scored 14 of the Peacocks 24 points during the stretch including a pivotal three-pointer that stretched Upper Iowa's lead to seven with 0:54 on the clock. UIU led 84-79 at the final buzzer.

STATS OF THE GAME… 

• Upper Iowa out shot Minnesota Duluth in every category: 28-61 (45.9%) to 23-63 (36.5%) from the field, 7-25 (28.0%) to 4-25 (16.0%) from downtown, and 21-24 (87.5%) to 29-38 (76.3%) from the free throw line.

• The Peacock second unit outscored the Bulldog bench 37-15.

• UIU out scored UMD 34-18 on fastbreaks.

PEACOCKS OF THE GAME… 

• Hilmer scored a team-high 23 points, he shot 7-13 (53.8%) from the field and 7-8 (87.5%) from the charity stripe. Hilmer also had a team-high four assists as well as four rebounds on the night.

• Duax tallied 16 points, he shot 7-8 (87.5%) from the floor, grabbed a team-high five rebounds, snatched a career-high five steals and dished out three assists.

• Jareese Williams scored 12 points and went 6-6 from the free throw line.

QUOTABLES...

UP NEXT… Upper Iowa will hit the road towards North Dakota where they will face the University of Mary on Feb. 7 and Minot State University on Feb. 8.