The No. 17 Upper Iowa men's basketball team used their second-highest scoring first half of the season to fuel a 17-point win, 91-74, over the No. 18 University of Central Oklahoma in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division II Central Regional in Sioux Falls, S.D.
 
UIU has played in five NCAA postseason tournament games since the 1995-96 season. The first four ended with the Peacocks on the wrong end of the final score, but Upper Iowa broke through to the win column in their fifth try. As an NCAA Division III team, the Peacocks reached the NCAA Regional in 1996 and 1999, but both ended in losses to Claremont Mudd-Scripps (70-58) and Gustavus Adolphus (58-55). In UIU's first two opportunities at the NCAA Division II level, the Peacocks lost to Augustana (79-65) in 2013 and then nearly upset Northwest Missouri State, the No. 1 seed, in overtime (79-74) in 2017.
 
Jareese Williams and Joe Smoldt each scored 22 points to lead Upper Iowa, while Jake Hilmer added 17 and Lucas Duax notched 10 points. Eight Peacocks scored in the game, while all nine that played pull down a rebound. Nick Reid, Lucas Duax and Connor Duax all had six rebounds in the game, while Hilmer handed out eight assists.
 
Isaiah Wade scored a game-high 30 points and pulled down 11 rebounds, and Callen Haydon netted 19 points and dished out five assists. The pair of Bronchos combined to make 20 of the team's 27 field goals in the game.
 
Central Oklahoma took the early advantage outscoring Upper Iowa 11-9 over the first five minutes with each team knocking down four of their seven shots, but after a driving layup by Connor Duax tied the score at 11-11, the Bronchos would never see the lead again. Upper Iowa dominated the final fifteen minutes to the tune of a 45-22 advantage. UIU shot 22-38 in the opening twenty minutes including 6-14 from deep for percentages of 57.9% and 42.9%, respectively. The Peacock defense held the Bronchos to 9-24 (37.5%) shooting after their solid start. The 54-33 halftime lead was fueled by huge advantages in points off turnovers (13-4), fast break points (12-3) and bench points (12-3).
 
Both offenses started slowly in the second half, but Upper Iowa was able to extend their lead to 60-35 at the first media timeout after holding Central Oklahoma to two points on 1-5 shooting to reopen play. Central Oklahoma cut the margin to 60-49 by the 10-minute media timeout thanks to an 14-0 run thanks to a switch to a trapping, half-court defense that forced UIU to shoot 0-6 and turn the ball over twice.
 
UIU snapped the six-minute scoring drought after a technical foul on Central Oklahoma when Jareese Williams made a pair of free throws. A three-point play from Cam Givens pulled the Brochos within 10, but a Williams' three-pointer got the Peacock crowd back on their feet and pushed the lead back to 13, 65-52.
 
The lead dropped to nine, 67-58, when Jaden Wells hit a floater in the lane, but a pair of free throws from Williams pushed the advantage back into double figures and a three-pointer from Jake Hilmer extended the margin back to 14, 72-58, with under six minutes to play. Williams continued his strong second half with a third three-pointer on the night to get the lead to 17, with under four on the clock.
 
Over the final four minutes the Peacocks continued to make free throws converting nine of twelve from the charity stripe to protect their lead and secure a 91-74 win.
 
The Peacocks will face the top-seeded Vikings of Augustana University, ranked No. 6, on Sunday night at 7:30 p.m. in the semifinals of the NCAA Division II Central Regional in Sioux Falls, S.D. at the Sanford Pentagon. Northwest Missouri State University and Washburn University, both from the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association, will play in the first semifinal at 5 p.m.