The season of firsts continued on Saturday night for the No. 15/13 Peacock men's basketball team. Upper Iowa defeated Concordia University, St. Paul 95-84 in St. Paul, Minn. for their 24th win of the season, which sets a new all-time high mark for wins in a season. The previous record of 23 wins was set during the 1998-99 season, while the best total at NCAA Division II level of 22 wins was set during the 2016-17 season.
 
On Saturday, Upper Iowa's offense shot a blistering 61.4% from the floor and 66.7% from three. The Peacocks made 14 of their 21 three-pointers including 9 of 12 in the first half.
 
Joe Smoldt (22) and Jareese Williams (21) combined for 43 points in the game, while Jake Hilmer added 11, and the Duax brothers, Connor (9), Max (9) and Lucas (8), combined for 26 points off the bench. In total, ten Peacocks made a mark in the scoring column. Nick Reid pulled down a team-high eight rebounds. Williams, who recently returned from injury, converted seven three-pointers, while Smoldt knocked down three from deep.
 
Jack Stensgard scored a game-high 30 points with five three-pointers, while Elijah Ormiston and Marcus Skeete each scored 11 points. Stensgard also notched four assists.
 
Both teams came out swinging and hitting haymakers; midway through the first half, Upper Iowa held a 38-26 lead after nailing 15 of their first 17 shots including all eight three-pointers. Concordia-St. Paul, not to be outdone, knocked in 11 of their first 15 shots with a pair of threes. The offenses cooled as the first twenty minutes wound down as UIU outscored their hosts 14-11 to take a 52-37 lead into the locker room. UIU still shot well (50%) in the final ten minutes, but the Golden Bears forced four turnovers to limit the Peacocks' chances.
 
In the second half, UIU led 56-42 three minutes in when they launched another torrid offensive run outscoring the Golden Bears 19-8 over a four-minute stretch to pull away and lead by 25, 75-50, with 11:20 on the clock. The Peacocks were 7-7 from the floor including 3-3 from deep and 2-2 at the free throw line with Williams scoring nine during the run. After a Connor Duax three-pointer connected with 5:41 on the clock, the Peacocks led 89-68 and the Peacocks cruised to a double-digit win to close out their regular season.
 
Upper Iowa finished the 2021-22 season with a 24-4 record overall, an 18-4 mark in NSIC games and an 11-3 record in the NSIC South. The team finished with the most wins among all conference teams in overall record and conference record and tied with Augustana and Minnesota Duluth for division wins in the NSIC.
 
The Peacocks, who are ranked No. 2 in the NCAA Division II Central Region Rankings, earned a bye through the first round of the NSIC/Sanford Health Basketball Tournament. Upper Iowa will play in the quarterfinals on Sunday, Feb. 27 at 11 a.m. at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D. UIU will line up against the winner of the Northern State University-Minnesota State University, Mankato first round game in Aberdeen, S.D. on Wednesday, Feb. 23.