THIS WEEKEND IN PEACOCKS MEN'S BASKETBALL… Upper Iowa, the NSIC South second seed, will host the NSIC North seventh-seeded University of Mary in the first round of the NSIC/Sanford Health Tournament on Wednesday, Feb. 26 at 6 p.m. 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. Additionally, Wednesday's action can be viewed locally on KCRG TV 9.3.
NSIC/SANFORD HEALTH TOURNAMENT HISTORY… The Peacocks have had back-to-back first round exits in the NSIC/Sanford Health Tournament during the last two seasons. In 2016-17, Upper Iowa made it all the way to the finals where they fell 71-58 to Southwest Minnesota State University. A trio of quarterfinal round exits preceded the finals appearance. In the inaugural tournament during the 2012-13 season, Upper Iowa made a run to the semifinals before suffering a narrow loss to Bemidji State University (64-61).
SEASON-ENDING SPLIT… Upper Iowa picked up an 89-81 win over Minnesota State University, Mankato on Friday night before suffering a 93-61 loss against Concordia University, St. Paul on Saturday. The Peacocks' win over the Mavericks gives UIU a 2-0 record against MSU this season. The Peacocks' 32-point loss against the Golden Bears was UIU's largest margin of defeat this season. Upper Iowa scored 104 points against CSP in their first matchup of the season, but accumulated just 61 on Saturday night in St.Paul. The split resulted in a 15-7 NSIC record for the Peacocks, which was good enough for a second place finish in the NSIC South Division.
On Friday, Minnesota State used a pair of runs to acquire a 23-point lead by halftime. Upper Iowa then out scored MSU 38-10 in a 9:06 span (16:26 - 7:20) to begin the second half and take a 74-61 lead. The Mavericks retaliated with a 9-2 run but the Peacocks would lead by at least five points for the rest of the game resulting in the 89-81 UIU victory. Upper Iowa was deadly from deep as Jake Hilmer, Joe Smoldt and Jackson Joens went a combined 14-20 (70.0%) from long range.
Concordia-St.Paul led wire-to-wire on Saturday night. A 15-2 stretch to begin the game set the tone for the Golden Bears. CSP led by double figures for the remainder of the night, extending their lead to as high as 40 points before ending the game on a 93-61 advantage. The Peacocks starting unit got some rest heading into post-season play as the Upper Iowa reserves scored 48 of UIU's 61 points.
PRIDE OF THE PEACOCKS… Lucas Duax's consistent play over the weekend earned him a spot on the NSIC week 15 top performer's list. Duax averaged 12 points, 3.5 rebounds, 3.0 steals and 2.0 assists per game in the Peacocks weekend split. He also matched a career-high five steals in Friday night's win over the Mavericks. Duax leads the NSIC with 59 steals on the year and 2.1 per game.
Hilmer and Smoldt posted a pair of impressive performances for the Peacocks on Friday night. Hilmer scored 21 points, went 5-6 (83.3%) from three, dished out seven assists and snatched two steals while Smoldt also scored 21, went 5-8 (62.5%) from downtown and came down with four boards. The duo combines for nearly 25 points per game. Hilmer tallied 130 assists during the regular season, the third highest mark in the NSIC.
SCOUTING THE MARAUDERS… The Marauders claimed the first matchup of the season by an 85-71 count on their home court. Upper Iowa led just once in the contest. UMary used a 17-4 run to end the first half ahead 45-31. The Marauders never looked back leading by double-digits for the remainder of the night.
Upper Iowa holds a 10-8 advantage in the career series against UMary. The Marauders finished the regular season with a 12-16 record and a 7-15 mark in NSIC play. UMary ended a four-game skid in their final game of the regular season with a 75-69 win over the University of Minnesota Moorhead. The Marauders are led by Matthew Kreklow (14.5) and Jaylan White (11.8). The duo combines for over 25 points per contest. Krelow ranks among the top 10 in the NSIC in rebounds per game with 8.2, blocks per game with 2.0, and field goal percentage as he connects on 55.9% of his attempts. White ranks in the top 10 of the assists category with 3.6 per contest. As a team, UMary has a +3.9 margin from the free throw line.
