Upper Iowa fell to Sioux Falls by a 68-55 count on Friday evening. Sioux Falls led in the contest wire-to-wire. Following the loss, Upper Iowa falls to 2-1 overall and 0-1 in conference play while Sioux Falls improves to 3-0 on the year and 1-0 in the NSIC.  

The Cougars scored the first bucket of the night nearly three minutes into the action. Both teams struggled to score in the first frame resulting in a 25-19 count at the half in favor of USF. Upper Iowa's 19 first-half points paled in comparison to their season average of 50 going into the game. Sioux Falls' defense played the Peacocks tight. USF has allowed the third least amount of points in the NSIC thus far as their opponents have been held to 64 per game on average. Both teams shot less than 30% from the field in the first half. The Peacocks went 6-26 (23.1%) while the Cougars converted 10 out of 36 (27.8%) attempts. 

UIU and USF both shot less than 20% from beyond the arc, UIU held a 2-14 (14.3%) rate while USF posted a 3-15 (20%) mark. Sioux Falls held a 27-17 advantage on the boards including an 11-4 tally on the offensive end in the first frame. Upper Iowa uncharacteristically committed 11 turnovers while forcing nine on the opposite end. UIU's game-high in turnovers headed into the night was nine. USF's bench scored 15 of their 25 first-half points while UIU relied solely on their starters when it came to making baskets.

After exchanging buckets for the first few minutes, Sioux Falls used a 15-7 advantage to jump in front of Upper Iowa by double-digits. Troy Houghton fueled the stretch with seven points to put the Cougars up 44-33 with 9:50 to play. The Cougars held at least a nine-point advantage for the remainder of the night ending the game ahead 68-55, the largest lead of the evening.

STATS OF THE GAME… 

• USF outshot UIU from all three levels: 25-62 (40.3%) to 16-55 (29.1%) from the floor, 4-19 (21.1%) to 6-30 (20.0%) from deep, and 14-14 (100%) to 17-21 (81.0%) from the charity stripe.

• Tonight marked the first time since December 2015 that Upper Iowa converted less than 30% of its field goal attempts.

• The Cougars outscored the Peacocks 38-20 in the paint while UIU held the advantage 14-5 off of turnovers.

PEACOCKS OF THE GAME… 

• Jake Hilmer led the Peacocks with 17 points on a 6-11 (54.5%) rate from the floor.

• Lucas Duax tallied 13 points, five rebounds, and three steals on the night.
• Jareese Williams scored 12 points, leaving him just two scores away from the 1,000 point milestone.

UP NEXT… The Peacocks will return to the court for a rematch with the Cougars tomorrow Saturday, Jan. 8 at 4 p.m.