The No. 14/12 Upper Iowa men's basketball team secured an 89-80 quarterfinal win over Northern State University at the NSIC/Sanford Health Basketball Tournament at the Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D. With the win, the Peacocks improved to 25-4 overall, while Northern State fell to 20-12 on the year. The win avenged a regular season loss in Aberdeen, S.D. and pushed the Peacocks into the semifinals on Monday.
 
Joe Smoldt led the Peacocks with 30 points including 21 in the first half, while Jake Hilmer scored 22 including 18 in the second half. Jareese Williams scored 19 and Dylan Jones added nine.
 
Kailleb Walton-Blanden led the Wolves with 20 points and eight rebounds, while Sam Masten and Jordan Belka each scored 14 points apiece.
 
Upper Iowa claimed a 41-40 lead at halftime behind pressure defense and electric scoring from Smoldt. The super senior scored 21 on 8-10 shooting including 3-4 from three. Defensively, Lucas Duax came off the bench and controlled the Northern State attack with three steals and several shot alterations. The Peacocks forced the Wolves into nine first-half turnovers. Williams added eight points in the first half.
 
Northern State was 7-12 from beyond the arc, but only made 6-17 of their two-point attempts. Walton-Blanden came off the bench to lead the Wolves with 13 points on perfect shooting; he was 4-4 overall, 3-3 from three and 2-2 at the free throw line. Masten added nine and Jacksen Moni chipped in eight.
 
Three Peacock turnovers and a pair of blocked shots allowed Northern State to go on a 16-5 run that gave the Wolves a 26-17 lead with less than nine minutes to play in the first half. Upper Iowa turned to Williams and Smoldt out of a timeout for 12 points as the Peacocks cut the gap to three, 32-29, with 4:50 to play.
 
Over the final five minutes, the Peacock scoring options began to expand for UIU as seven players marked the scorebook in the half. Smoldt got loose in the paint for his eighth make of the half and Max Duax grabbed a steal and fastbreak layup for a 41-40 lead. UIU made one last stand before the buzzer to take the one-point lead into the locker room.
 
The Peacocks opened the second half with a 12-2 run that established a cushion they would carry throughout the half. Northern State was able to cut the gap to five on several occasions, but Upper Iowa continued to have the answer. UIU's answer on several possessions was a Hilmer pull-up jumper that caught all net. After a 2-7 first half from the field, Hilmer made 5-6 in the second half.
 
As the NSU defense made their third shift of the game to slow Hilmer in addition to Smoldt, Dylan Jones was able to take advantage at the rim with seven points in the second half to finish with nine points on 4-4 shooting in the paint.
 
Upper Iowa's defensive pressure was tenacious in the game led by Lucas Duax. The Peacocks fed off the junior's quick hands and forced the Wolves into nine more turnovers in the final twenty minutes. UIU turned the 18 NSU turnovers into a 20-5 advantage in points off turnovers.
 
The Peacocks will be back on Heritage Court inside the Sanford Pentagon on Monday, Feb. 28. Upper Iowa will play No. 12/14 University of Minnesota Duluth in the semifinals at 11 a.m. in a match up of the NSIC South's 2-seed and the NSIC North's 1-seed. UIU won the regular season meeting in Fayette by a 94-85 score.