THIS WEEK IN PEACOCK HOOPS… Upper Iowa (16-2, 10-2 NSIC), ranked No. 13/14 in the latest two NCAA DII Top 25 polls, is on the road for a big test at Northern State University and Minnesota State University Moorhead this Friday and Saturday. The Peacocks are 4-0 against the NSIC North this season after grabbing wins on the road at the University of Minnesota Crookston and Bemidji State University prior to defending Dorman with wins over St. Cloud State University and the No. 5/6 University of Minnesota Duluth. This weekend's games mark the first time since the first NSIC contest of the season that the men's teams will be playing the second game of the women/men's double headers as well so pre-game will feel a bit different to all involved. UIU lines up against Northern State (12-8, 6-6 NSIC) on Friday at 7:30 p.m. in Aberdeen, S.D. The Peacocks will then take on MSU Moorhead (9-8, 4-4 NSIC) on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. in Moorhead, Minn. UIU enters the weekend as the NSIC South Division leader, while the Wolves are second in the NSIC North and the Dragons are tied for third.
ON THE NATIONAL RADAR... The Peacocks moved up three spots to No. 13 in the NABC NCAA Division II Top 25 with 210 points and four spots to No. 14 with 196 points in the D2SIDA Division II Media Poll after grabbing a second-straight NSIC sweep thanks to wins over St. Cloud State, 108-95, and No. 5 Minnesota Duluth, 94-85. With the sweep over the Huskies and No. 5 Bulldogs, Upper Iowa is 3-1 against NABC Top 25, and 2-0 against NABC Top 5 teams. The ranking this week marks the sixth time that UIU has been in the top 25 for the NABC poll and fourth time in the D2SIDA poll. In addition to the two national polls, Wayne Cavadi, who covers all NCAA Division II sports for NCAA.com, released this week's Division II Power Rankings and Upper Iowa is ranked sixth in the latest edition after spending the last few weeks as one of the first five out of the rankings. The Peacocks are 3-0 at home against three teams in Cavadi's Power 10 and first five out.
GETTING TO THE LINE… Upper Iowa is converting free throw makes at the sixth-best percentage in the nation at 80.2%; which leads the Northern Sun Conference.
Jake Hilmer and
Jareese Williams have combined to make 140 of their 147 opportunities. Hilmer and Williams are tied for second in the nation (95.2%). The two share the top spot in the Northern Sun. Hilmer owns the UIU record for consecutive free throws with 39, while Williams owns the second-best streak with 35. The old record was 19, held by Greg Von Arx in 1993-94. Hilmer saw a streak of 28 straight come to an end in the final minutes of the Minnesota Duluth win last Saturday.
PRIDE OF IOWA... Sixteen players on the Upper Iowa roster are from the great state of Iowa including all nine of the players getting regular minutes in games.
Joe Smoldt (Gladbrook-Reinbeck HS) is currently fourth all-time in UIU scoring with 1,793 points including 322 made three-pointers; the super senior is averaging 17.5 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.5 assists this season.
Jareese Williams (Mason City HS), who will not play this weekend as he recovers from injury, is currently ninth all-time in UIU scoring with 1,506 points including 299 three-pointers. The graduate student is averaging 18.8 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game this season.
Jake Hilmer (North Linn HS) currently has 912 career points and 290 assists; the junior is averaging 16.4 points and 4.5 assists this season.
Nick Reid (Central City HS) is averaging 7.2 points and 5.8 rebounds, while three Duax (Hempstead HS) brothers give the Peacocks what few teams have... grit. Lucas averages 8.8 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2 assists and 1.6 steals per game; Connor averages 6.8 points and 3.4 rebounds per game; and Max averages 4.9 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1 steal per game. In the paint, the Peacocks are combining the play of two to form one all-conference post player.
Dylan Jones (Waukee HS) and
Cade Moritz (Norwalk HS) combine in the post for 13.2 points, 9.1 rebounds, 1.2 blocks and 1 assist in 35.4 minutes per game.
RECENT HISTORY WITH NSU AND MSUM… Upper Iowa is 3-4 against Northern State and 2-9 against MSU Moorhead in Head Coach
Brooks McKowen's tenure. The Peacocks won the last meeting with the Wolves, 95-86, in Aberdeen behind 24 points from Williams, 18 from Smoldt and 10 Peacock three-pointers. UIU has averaged 78.8 points per game against the Wolves, but NSU has posted 85 points per game fueled by their 102-73 win in Fayette in January of 2019. Included in UIU's nine losses to the Dragons are four defeats at The Pentagon in Sioux Falls during the NSIC/Sanford Health Basketball Tournament. UIU's last win in the series came at home in Feb. 2018, 91-78. UIU was led by 20 points from current assistant coach
Carson Parker and 18 points from Smoldt.
SCOUTING THE WOLVES… The Wolves won a pair of games at home last weekend defeating Southwest Minnesota State University (69-68) and the University of Sioux Falls (79-72) in Aberdeen, S.D. The wins pulled the team's record up to 12-8 overall and 6-6 in the Northern Sun. Northern State is led by Sam Masten, this week's NSIC North Division Player of the Week. Masten is averaging 15.1 points and 5.1 rebounds per game, while Jordan Belka is adding 14.9 points and 6.8 rebounds and Jacksen Moni chips in 13.8 points and 5.6 rebounds per game. As a team, NSU is averaging 73.4 points per game while shooting 44.5% from the floor and 34.4% from three.
SCOUTING THE DRAGONS… The Dragons are returning to the court for the first time since their game at Northern State on Jan. 2. MSU Moorhead is 9-8 overall and 4-4 in NSIC play. The squad is led by Gavin Baumgartner's 12.2 points and 4.5 rebounds per game, while Lorenzo McGhee adds 11.1 points and 4.4 rebounds and Byrce Irsfeld posts 10.6 points and 2.4 assists per game. Dane Zimmer leads the team on the glass with 7.8 rebounds per game and is scoring 9.9 points a contest as well. MSUM is averaging 80.4 points per game while shooting 46.9% from the field and 37.7% from three.
