THIS WEEKEND IN PEACOCK MEN'S BASKETBALL… Upper Iowa heads north for a pair of matchups against fellow NSIC South Division member, Concordia University, St.Paul. The Peacocks will face off against the Golden Bears on Friday, Feb. 5 at 6 p.m. and Saturday, Feb. 6 at 2 p.m. Live stats and a webcast produced by CSP are available through the links above or at UIUPeacocks.com/Live. The games will also stream live on the NSIC Network app through Roku and Fire devices, as well as Apple and Android TV.

SAILING PAST THE VIKINGS… Upper Iowa picked up two big wins this weekend over Augustana University. On Friday, Augie controlled the game for the majority of the first frame. The Peacocks followed with a second-half spark to gain the lead and never looked back on their way to a 98-88 win. On Saturday, the two teams produced a true back-and-forth battle that featured 16 ties and 14 lead changes. Down 96-90 with 1:33 left in regulation, UIU rattled off three unanswered buckets to force overtime. In the extra period, Upper Iowa held an 18-13 advantage thanks to a 7-0 run that pushed the Peacocks out to a 114-109 victory. Upper Iowa's three-point shooting played a big factor in the wins as UIU went 32-66 (48.5%) from downtown as a team during the series. Upper Iowa also held Augustana to just a +2.5 rebound margin over the two games, a significantly lower rate than the Vikings' +7.8 average headed into the weekend.

TEAMING UP… After an impressive weekend, Upper Iowa leads the NSIC in four categories as a unit: points per game (88.2), field goal percentage (41.1%), free throw percentage (81.9%), and turnover margin (+4.10). Nationally, the Peacocks' rate from the charity stripe ranks third, their 10.2 turnovers per game rank sixth, while UIU's +1.47 turnover margin is the country's ninth-best mark. Upper Iowa dished out a season-high 22 assists in both contests. On Saturday, the Peacocks' 114 points was just a basket away from the program-high at the NCAA DII level and the highest total posted since November 2014. The overtime win also marked head coach Brooks McKowen's 100th career home game and gave UIU a 2-0 mark in games that extend past regulation. Upper Iowa's three-game win streak propelled the Peacocks into sole possession of fourth place in the NSIC South giving UIU a projected spot in the NSIC/Sanford Health Tournament for the first time this season.

SPLASH BROS 2.0… Jareese Williams and Joe Smoldt continue to shoot the lights out and are well on their way to becoming the deadliest duo in the NSIC. Smoldt and Williams are neck-and-neck in points per game, three-point field goal percentage, and three-point field goals per game. Smoldt ranks seventh (17.4), second (44.7%), and first (3.4) in the aforementioned categories while Williams sits right behind his counterpart in eighth (17.2), third (40.2%), and second (3.3) place. No pair of teammates ranks higher in any of the statistics. In addition to climbing up the NSIC leaderboard, the senior guards are re-writing the Upper Iowa record books. Smoldt is currently in 13th place on the all-time scoring list with 1,366 points and is just 17 points away from entering the top ten. Williams sits in 22nd place with 1,118 points, 68 points away from cracking the top 20.

WILLIAMS WINS THE WEEK… Williams' 53 points over the weekend earned him Upper Iowa men's basketball's first NSIC South Player of the Week Honor of the season. The Mason City, Iowa native shot 16-of-30 (53.3%) from the field, including 12-of-23 (52.2%) from beyond the arc. Williams is the Peacocks leading rebounder and brought in 10 boards between the two wins. On Friday night, the sharp-shooter set a career-high seven made trifectas on his first eight attempts from deep. Saturday marked Williams' 10th straight game scoring in double-figures and his 100th appearance as a Peacock. Smoldt supplemented his teammate's success averaging 20.5 points, 4.0 assists and 3.5 rebounds during the series.

IMPRESSIVE UNDERCLASSMEN… Sophomores Lucas Duax and Jake Hilmer joined in on fun providing the Peacock offense with an additional boost. Duax passed the 20-point mark for the second-straight game and for the third time in his career with 22 points on a 9-14 (64.2%) rate from the field Friday night to go with a career-high nine rebounds. The Dubuque, Iowa native's field goal percentage (50.9%) is the NSIC's 10th best rate while his 16.1 points per night rank 13th in the league. 

Hilmer returned to form after an off-weekend at Wayne State College. The Walker, Iowa native scored 31 points and dished out 15 assists between the two games. His season-high nine assists on Saturday night helped hold his 5.5 assists per game in second-place in the NSIC and 19th nationwide. Dylan Jones excelled all around on Saturday registering 13 points, a career-high eight rebounds, two steals, and two assists. Jackson Joens had a hot hand as well providing 12 points, all from downtown, to go along with four boards and a pair of assists.

HISTORY WITH CSP… Upper Iowa leads the career-series 18-15 against Concordia including victories in 10 of the last 12 matchups. The Peacocks also hold a 9-6 record on CSP's home court. The two teams split the home-and-away last season as UIU picked up a 104-91 win in Dorman before falling 93-61 to the Golden Bears on the road. The win last winter was a significant one as it was McKowen's 100th victory at the helm of the Peacocks. Smoldt and Joens combined for 45 points on the night while Hilmer set a career-high with 11 assists.

GEARING UP FOR THE GOLDEN BEARS… Concordia is 1-7 on the season, 0-4 in the NSIC. The Golden Bears are amid a seven-game skid, most recently dropping a home series to Saint Cloud State University. Carlos Barela leads the Golden Bears' offense with 12.9 points per game. CSP has five other contributors who score between 10.2 and 9.4 points per night. Concordia's starting five and sixth man combine for 62.2 points per game. As a team, the Golden Bears' block 3.5 shots per game which is good for fourth in the NSIC.