THIS WEEKEND IN PEACOCKS MEN'S BASKETBALL… Upper Iowa begins their 2021-22 campaign this weekend in Kansas City, Mo. at the Central Region Challenge hosted by Pittsburg State University. The Peacocks will take on Missouri Southern State University on Friday, Nov. 12 at 2:30 p.m. and then line up against the host Gorillas on Sunday, Nov. 14 at 2:30 p.m. The Central Region Challenge features 16 teams including five additional Northern Sun Conference teams.
 
LIVE OPTIONS... Live stats will be available for both games, but at this time it does not appear that a webcast is available from the Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City. UIU's second game against Pitt State will have a live audio broadcast available. All live options can be found at UIUPeacocks.com/Live.
 
ANOTHER LOOK AT UIU'S EXHIBITION WITH CREIGHTON... UIU held a lead through the first thirteen minutes of the first half against their Big East counterpart and played even with the Bluejays in the second half, but a dominant final seven minutes of the first half provided the home team the cushion they needed to post a 76-61 win. The Peacocks converted 10 three-pointers on the night including the first two shots of the game by super seniors Jareese Williams and Joe Smoldt. Williams finished the game with a team-high 16 points including four three-pointers, while Smoldt added 13 points with three long-range makes. Transfer Nick Reid was the third Peacock in double-figure scoring with 10 points. Reid also posted a double-double with 10 rebounds. Jake Hilmer scored 7, handed out 5 assists and grabbed 4 steals.
 
NSIC PRESEASON COACHES' POLL... The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference released their 2021-22 Preseason Coaches Poll on Thursday and the Peacock men's basketball team was selected fifth overall and third in the NSIC South Division. Minnesota State University Moorhead was selected by the league coaches as the preseason favorite in the NSIC for the 2021-22 season. In the south, Minnesota State and Wayne State each had 42 points, with Wayne State collecting four first place votes and the Mavericks two. Upper Iowa was third with 39 points and the other two first place votes.
 
QUICK GLANCE AT THE PEACOCKS... Upper Iowa returns all 10 of their top-ten scorers from a season ago including All-Northern Sun Conference First Team performer Jareese Williams, All-NSIC Second Teamers Joe Smoldt and Jake HIlmer and the NSIC South Division Defensive Player of the Year Lucas Duax. The quartet combined for 64.3 points, 18.3 rebounds, 9.8 assists, and 5.2 steals per game last season. Upper Iowa finished last season with a 10-7 record overall and an 8-4 mark in NSIC competition. UIU's run in the postseason ended prematurely in an overtime loss at Minot State University 90-85 in a quarterfinal matchup of the NSIC/Sanford Health Tournament. Head Coach Brooks McKowen is back on the sidelines for his ninth season with the Peacocks; the northeast Iowa native has led UIU to an overall record of 124-110 and an 89-77 mark in the NSIC.
 
SUPER SIZE ME... Leading the way will be Williams and Smoldt, who both return this season for a super senior campaign. Williams, this season's NSIC Player to Watch for UIU, has scored 1,243 points for UIU including a 17.6 scoring average in 2021. The Mason City product has hit 42.7% of his three-point attempts converting 256 of his 599 career tries from long-range. Smoldt returns for a fifth season as well with a whopping 1,478 career points for the Peacocks. Last season, Gladbrook-Reinbeck prep averaged 16.8 points knocking down 40.3% of his threes and 85.3% of his free throws.
 
FAMILIAR FACES... In addition to the four award winners from last season, Upper Iowa brings back posts Dylan Jones, Cade Moritz and Baden Noennig, as well as guards Max Duax, Jackson Joens and Jackson Foley. Mixing in with the group of familiar faces will be a pair of transfers Connor Duax (University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh) and Nick Reid (Emporia State University).
  
DON'T FEED THE LIONS... Missouri Southern State was picked to finish fourth in the MIAA. The Lions took on Wichita State in their exhibition game and dropped the contest 90-58. MSSU was led in scoring by RJ Smith who had 15 points and eight rebounds. Lawson Jenkins and Alex Jones scored 11 points each, while Christian Bundy scored seven and pulled down five boards.
 
BEWARE OF THE GORILLAS... Pitt State played a pair of exhibition games defeating Avila University 82-75, but dropped a 78-59 decision at Kansas State last week. Tyler Hawkins led the Gorillas with 17 points against Avila, while Magic Reliford chipped in with 10 points. At Kansas State, Selton Miguel scored a game high 18 points to pace the Wildcats, while Logan Landers (11) and Ismael Massoud (10) also scored in double figures.