THIS WEEKEND IN PEACOCK MEN'S BASKETBALL… Upper Iowa returns to Dorman Memorial Gymnasium for a pair of matchups against NSIC South Division foe, Augustana University. The Peacocks will face off against the Vikings on Friday, Jan. 29 at 6 p.m. and Saturday, Jan. 30 at 2 p.m. Live stats and a webcast are available through the links above or at UIUPeacocks.com/Live. Digital gameday programs can be accessed at UIUPeacocks.com/Programs. The games will also stream live on the NSIC Network app through Roku and Fire devices, as well as Apple and Android TV and broadcast live locally on KCRG-TV 9.3.

SERIES SPLIT… Upper Iowa split their series over the weekend at Wayne State College. The Wildcats took the first game 99-71 in a dominant performance. WSC clicked on all cylinders leading wire-to-wire and posting 99 points, 54 rebounds, 21 assists as a unit. Jordan Jansen led the charge registering a double-double in both contests. Upper Iowa completely reversed course on Saturday taking their turn to lead in totality on their way to a 80-72 win. Joe Smoldt and Lucas Duax led the Upper Iowa offense with a cumulative 52 points. The victory snapped a three-game road skid and provided UIU with their first win away from home this season. The Peacocks went a perfect 16/16 from the free throw line during the affair making it Upper Iowa's best rate from the charity stripe in program history at the NCAA Division II level. 

NO "JOE SHMOE"… Smoldt earned himself a spot on the NSIC top performers list for the second consecutive week after tying a career-high 29 points Saturday afternoon thanks to a 5-8 (62.5%) rate from downtown. Smoldt averaged 18.5 points per game after posting 37 points on a 12-26 (46.15%) rate from the field and an 8-9 (88.9%) clip from the free throw line in addition to registering nine rebounds and three assists in the Peacocks' weekend split. The Reinbeck, Iowa native leads UIU and ranks 10th in the NSIC in scoring with 16.6 points per game. He also holds the sixth-best three-point percentage in the conference at 42.9% and sits in second place in three-point field goals per game with 3.4.

50/50… The Peacocks are 2-2 (50%) at home in 2021. Three main contributors; Lucas Duax (45-90), Dylan Jones (25-50), and Baden Noennig (11-22) are all shooting 50% from the field halfway through the regular season. Duax ranks 10th in the NSIC in the category while Jones and Noennig have not met the minimum attempts to qualify.

LEAGUE LEADERS… With 11 points on Friday night and 15 Saturday, Jareese Williams pushed his double-digit scoring streak to eight consecutive games over the weekend. Williams ranks third in the NSIC in free throw percentage at 84.8%, fifth in three-point makes per game at 2.6, seventh in three-point percentage at 35.6%, and 18th in scoring with 14.9 points per contest while his 5.5 boards per night are a team-high and 24th best in the conference. 

Lucas Duax surpassed 20 points for the second time in his career on Saturday and tallied a cumulative five steals over the weekend. Duax is inching his way closer to becoming the NSIC's top theft. The Dubuque, Iowa native has 17 on the season which puts him in third place, just two swipes away from the lead. Duax also ranks 14th in the league as a scorer with 15.8 points per night and 15th in free throw percentage at 77.4%. Jake Hilmer, despite an off weekend compared to his standard, still totaled 17 points and six assists against the Wildcats. Hilmer's 13.8 points per game is the 20th best in the NSIC while his 40 assists are a league-high and his 5.0 assist to turnover ratio sits in second place by 0.2.

RECENT VICTORY OVER THE VIKINGS… Augustana has held the advantage against Upper Iowa over the last decade. The Vikings are 12-7 against the Peacocks since the 2010-11 season. Upper Iowa claimed the most recent matchup in a thrilling overtime win 110-100. Smoldt was one of six Peacocks in double figures that evening, setting a career-high that night in Dorman with 29 points on his way to reaching the 1,000 point milestone. Smoldt finished with an impeccable 78/83/100 clip to go with five rebounds and four assists on the night.

ADDRESSING AUGUSTANA… The Vikings are currently 5-3 on the year, 3-3 in the NSIC. Leading AU is 2020 All-NSIC First-Teamer Tyler Riemersma. Riemersma was an impenetrable force in the paint during the 2019-20 campaign. The Bloomington, Minn. native averaged 12.5 points and 10.4 rebounds per game setting an NSIC single-season record with 239 conference rebounds and ranking eighth nationally with 313 total boards. Riemersma's partner in crime, Dylan Lebrun, returns to Sioux Falls, S.D. for his junior season. Lebrun averaged 12.1 points shooting 44.1% from the floor last season. Matt Todd who co-led the team in scoring with 12.5 points per game a season ago completes the trio. Matt Cartwright, a member of the 2018-19 All-NSIC Second Team, also returns to Augustana after missing the majority of last year's campaign due to injury. Through eight games the Vikings have six scorers averaging double-figures; Michael Schaefer (13.1), Issac Fink (12.4), Adam Dykman (11.5), Riemersma (11.5), Lebrun (10.8), and Todd (10.5). As a team, AU holds the league's third-best scoring margin at +11.2 over their opponents, while their +7.8 margin on the glass and +4.8 turnover margin both rank second in the NSIC.