THIS WEEK IN PEACOCK HOOPS… Upper Iowa (17-3, 11-3 NSIC), ranked No. 20/22 in the latest two NCAA DII Top 25 polls, returns to Prochaska Court and Dorman Memorial Gymnasium this weekend for their final NSIC cross-division games of the regular season. The Peacocks are currently 5-1 against the NSIC North after a split on the road last weekend at Northern State University (L, 90-81) and Minnesota State University Moorhead (W, 66-63). Last weekend marked the first time since the first NSIC contest of the season that the men's teams played the second game of the women/men's double headers. Upper Iowa will face off against Minot State University (12-4, 6-4 NSIC) on Friday at 7:30 p.m. and the University of Mary (7-11, 6-7 NSIC) on Saturday at 5:30 p.m.
 
THEME NIGHTS… UIU is celebrating Basketball Alumni Weekend with a pair of themes for fans; wear white on Friday for UIU's Whiteout versus Minot State and then dust off your throwback jerseys for Saturday's tussle with UMary. Alumni in attendance on Saturday will be recognized at halftime of the women and men's games.
 
LIVE COVERAGE OPTIONS… Live stats and webcasts for each game will be available through the links at UIUPeacocks.com/LIVE and included with this story. The contests will also stream live on the new NSIC Network app through Roku and Fire devices, as well as Apple and Android TV. Search for "NSIC Network" to find the app on your relevant device. Locally, both games will be aired on KCRG-TV 9.2; Friday's game will be aired beginning at 11 p.m., while Saturday's game will be aired live.
 
DIGITAL GAMEDAY PROGRAMS… Fans can access an interactive and digital gameday program for each home contest at any time at UIUPeacocks.com/Programs. The digital programs are available to fans both at our games and those at home watching the action. QR Codes will also be located around the facility to scan with your cell phone's camera that will link you directly to that game's specific digital gameday program.
 
TOP 25 TICKER... The Peacocks came in at No. 20 in the NABC NCAA Division II Top 25 with 110 points and No. 22 with 85 points in the D2SIDA Division II Media Poll after the team's split at Northern State and MSU Moorhead last weekend. Upper Iowa is 3-1 against NABC Top 25, and 2-0 against NABC Top 5 teams. The ranking this week marks the seventh time that UIU has been in the top 25 for the NABC poll and fifth time in the D2SIDA poll.
 
WHO'S KEEPING TRACK… Super senior Joe Smoldt averaged 16.5 points, 3.5 assists and 1.5 rebounds for the Peacocks last weekend. The Reinbeck, Iowa native shot 47.8% from the floor including 6-13 shooting from three. His final three-pointer of the weekend came from 25 feet and with 0.5 seconds on the clock to defeat the Dragons. Smoldt now has a program-best 333 career three-pointers and 1,826 points, which ranks fourth all-time in Upper Iowa history. The top three scorers in Peacock history are Jim Bushkofsky (2,194 – 1970-74), Wayne Sawyer (1,922 – 1954-58) and Keith Woolfolk (1,910 – 1975-79); Smoldt is now just 84 points from cracking into the top three. In addition, junior point guard Jake Hilmer is knocking on the door of the Peacock 1,000-point club and looking to become the 30^th member. Hilmer has scored 936 points through two and a half seasons with Upper Iowa. Two other Peacocks are nearing big marks in points; Lucas Duax (677) needs 23 points to reach 700 in his career, while Cade Moritz is just 24 points away from 500. When Jareese Williams returns from injury, his first three-pointer made will mark the 300^th of his career, while his current 1,506 points rank ninth all-time at UIU behind Don Dutton's 1,507 (1960-64) and Greg VonArx's 1,551 (1992-96). Head Coach Brooks McKowen won his 141^st game at Upper Iowa last Saturday moving into sole possession of second place on the all-time wins list. McKowen passed Stan Jack (140 – 1961-71) and is now behind only Bill Prochaska (191 – 1971-92).

GETTING TO THE LINE… Upper Iowa is converting free throw makes at the sixth-best percentage in the nation at 79.7%; which leads the Northern Sun Conference. Jake Hilmer and Jareese Williams have combined to make 144 of their 152 opportunities. Hilmer is ranked second in the nation (94.4%) and leads the Northern Sun, while Williams has just fallen under the qualifying mark for free throws attempted despite making 60-63 (95.2%). 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 two weekends ago as well.

BALANCE IS THE KEY... In addition to Smoldt, Williams and Hilmer's success this season, six other Peacocks keep defenses honest and combine to score 48.6% of Upper Iowa's 85.2 points per game. Nick Reid is averaging 7.2 points, 5.7 rebounds with one assist and one block per game, while Lucas Duax is scoring 9.3 points per game while grabbing 3.7 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.6 steals per game. Dylan Jones and Cade Moritz are combining at the block for 13.5 points, 8.9 rebounds, 1.0 blocks and 1.2 assists in 35.7 minutes per game. Connor Duax is registering 6.5 points and 3.6 rebounds per game; while Max Duax is getting 4.9 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1 steal per game. All nine of the Peacock regulars have notched a game with more than 10 points this season and several have had a scoring night above 20. 

RECENT HISTORY WITH NSU AND MSUM… Upper Iowa is 6-4 against Minot State and 5-3 against UMary in Head Coach Brooks McKowen's tenure. Last season, the Beavers ended UIU's season in the quarterfinals of the NSIC/Sanford Health Basketball Tournament at the Pentagon in Sioux Falls in a 90-85 overtime decision. UIU has averaged 89 points per game against the Beavers, but MiSU has won three of the last four match ups. Upper Iowa defeated UMary in their last meeting in February of 2020, 80-64, behind a combined 35 points from Lucas Duax (18) and Smoldt (17). The Peacocks are averaging 76.3 points in the last eight games against the Marauders and are 3-2 against UMary under McKowen at home.

SCOUTING THE BEAVERS… Minot State is coming off of back-to-back NSIC victories. On Friday, the Beavers defeated Minnesota State University, Mankato, 97-69, and then posted a 98-54 win over Concordia University, St. Paul on Saturday. Five different Beavers posted double-digit scoring performances over the weekend led by NSIC North Division Player of the Week Melvin Newbern, who averaged 17.5 points per game. Newbern is averaging 15.4 per game and pulling down 9.6 rebounds a contest, while Camron Dunfee is adding 14.6 points, two assists and a steal per game. Minot State is averaging 86.6 points per game while shooting 53.4% from the field and 41.4% from three.

SCOUTING THE MARAUDERS… The Marauders pulled out a pair of victories in the final minute of play last weekend… The Marauders rallied past Concordia-St. Paul 68-66 when the Marauders scored the last five points of the game. On Saturday, UMary scored the final six points of the game in the final 50 seconds to rally past Minnesota State 65-60. Kai Huntsberry leads the Marauder offense with 18.7 points and 4.8 rebounds per game while shooting 47.8% from the floor. Gertautas Urbonavicius averages 10.1 points and 4.4 rebounds, while Jacob Jackson (9.8 points, 5.6 rebounds) and Kam Warrens (8.7 points, 6.5 rebounds) round out the bulk of UMary's scoring. The Marauders average 68.8 points per game while allowing 75.6 points to their opponents each contest.