Upper Iowa took down the NSIC leading University of Sioux Falls 75-69 on Saturday evening. With the win, the Peacocks clinch a home game in the first round of the NSIC tournament for the first time since 2017. The game also marks just the fourth conference loss for the Cougars this season, the second of which came at the hands of UIU. Upper Iowa was led by Jareese Williams who scored a career-high 30 points, all of which were scored in the second half. With the win, UIU improves to 17-9 overall, 13-7 in NSIC action. Sioux Falls moves to 20-6, 16-4 in conference play.
The Cougars began the game on a 16-0 run, 10 of which were scored by sophomore guard Chase Grindle. The Peacocks retaliated with a 20-3 run of their own that evened the game at 25 with 3:02 to go in the first half. Lucas Duax, Joe Smoldt, Jake Hilmer and Joshua Carter all tallied two or more baskets during the stretch. The game remained a draw heading into halftime as each team tacked on five additional points making it 30 all at the break.
During the first half, the Peacocks out scored the Cougars 22-10 in the paint. Upper Iowa committed just five first-half turnovers while UIU forced 13 takeaways on the defensive side of the ball. Hilmer accounted for three of the Peacocks' eight steals in the first frame. Hilmer led all scorers with 11 points as he shot 4-8 (50%) from the field in the opening period.
Sioux Falls regained the lead 40-35 with 14:32 left to play following a 10-3 stretch. Six of the 10 points came from junior forward Teathloath Pal. The Peacocks followed up with a 12-3 run that tied the game at 56 with 6:45 remaining. Jareese Williams fueled the stretch with nine points via two three-pointers and three free throws.
The teams continued to go blow for blow leaving the game tied at 69 with just 1:23 left on the clock. Upper Iowa went on to score six unanswered points in the final 0:55 leading to the 75-69 UIU victory.
Williams fuelled Upper Iowa down the stretch as he scored 15 points in the final 4:56. Amid the run Williams was a perfect 3-3 from the field, 2-2 from deep and 4-4 from the free throw line. In the second half altogether, Williams scored 30 points on an impeccable stat line of 7-9 (77.8%) rate from the field, 6-7 mark (85.7%) from beyond the arc, and a 10-10 count from the charity stripe.
STATS OF THE GAME…Â
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Upper Iowa converted an impressive 18-20 (90%) of their attempts from the free throw line. This was the first time since February 2019 that the Peacocks converted 90% or more of their free throw attempts. Sioux Falls went just 6-16 (37.5%) from the charity stripe.
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The Peacocks out scored the Cougars 18-6 on the fastbreak.
PEACOCKS OF THE GAME…Â
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Williams scored a career-high 30 points as he shot 7-12 (58.3%) from the floor, 6-8 (75%) from downtown and 10-10 from the charity stripe. He also came down with a team-high six rebounds.
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Hilmer scored 13 points, snatched three steals and dished out two assists.
QUOTABLES...
UP NEXT…  The Peacocks will close out the regular season on the road, Upper Iowa will play Minnesota State University - Mankato and Concordia University, St.Paul on Feb. 21 & 22.
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