Upper Iowa fell to the University of Sioux Falls on Saturday night by a 87-76 count. Jareese Williams surpassed the 1,000 point milestone early on in the first half becoming the 29th player in school history to accomplish this feat. Williams scored 15 in the game which gives him 1,011 career points and the 28th spot in the record books. Following the loss, the Peacocks fall to 2-2 overall, 0-2 in conference while the Cougars move to 4-0 on the year and 2-0 in the NSIC.  

Upper Iowa began the game on fire from beyond the arc jumping out on a 9-3 stretch. A trio of three-pointers from Williams, Joe Smoldt, and Lucas Duax gave UIU the advantage just over two minutes into the first frame. The Cougars responded with a 13-1 run of their own putting USF up 25-17 with 8:04 to go in the half. The Peacocks then got within one score following an 11-6 advantage at the 4:43 mark making it a 29-27 game. Amid the stretch, Williams sank a pair of free throws to become the 29th Peacock in men's basketball history to score 1,000 career points. Upper Iowa closed out the half with eight unanswered points, four from Duax and four from Williams, prior to USF's Jack Thompson beating the buzzer and making it 39 all at the break. 

Sioux Falls got into foul trouble in the first frame. Upper Iowa capitalized off of this, going a near-perfect 13-15 (86.7%) from the line while the Cougars went 4-8 from the charity stripe. Williams was a perfect 6-6 from the free throw line while Duax accounted for the remainder of the attempts at a 5-7 (71.4%) rate. The Peacocks are top two in NSIC free throw percentage having converted 84% of their attempts thus far. UIU returned to form in the first half committing just six turnovers compared to the 11 first-half takeaways that were coughed up on Friday night. Duax led all scorers with 12 points, eight of which came in the final 3:30 seconds to go with a team-high four first-half boards. 

The second half remained closely contested as neither team led by more than two baskets until the final 2:05. Smoldt found his stroke in the second frame, scoring eight unanswered to give UIU a 68-66 lead with 6:56 to play. The Cougars came back with a 15-5 advantage to jump ahead 81-73 with 2:05 to go. Troy Houghton led the charge for the Cougars with nine points during the stretch. Sioux Falls carried the lead to the finish ending the game with six unanswered points extending their lead to a 87-76 count, the largest margin of the night.

STATS OF THE GAME… 

• Upper Iowa excelled from the deep connecting on 15-27 (55.6%) of its three-point attempts compared to a 5-12 (41.7%) mark from Sioux Falls.

• USF outrebounded UIU 44-21 on the night leading Sioux Falls to outscore UIU 20-2 on second chance opportunities. 

• The Peacocks made 21-25 (84.0%) of their free throw attempts compared to a 10-14 (71.4%) rate by the Cougars.

PEACOCKS OF THE GAME… 

• Duax scored a career-high 24 points on the evening on a 7-11 (63.6%) from the field including a 5-8 (62.5%) mark from deep. 

• Smoldt scored 20 points and went 6-9 (66.7%) from downtown.

• Williams scored 15 points on his way past the 1,000 mark.

• Jake Hilmer registered nine points and seven assists in the loss.

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