THIS WEEKEND IN PEACOCK MEN'S BASKETBALL… Upper Iowa is leaving Fayette for the first time in 2023 with a pair of Northern Sun Conference cross-division games at the University of Minnesota Duluth and St. Cloud State University. UIU is coming off a pair of wins at home over Bemidji State University and the University of Minnesota Crookston last weekend. The Peacocks, and the Cougars of the University of Sioux Falls, were the only two NSIC South schools to go 2-0 over the weekend, while Minnesota Duluth, Minnesota State University Moorhead and Northern State University all went 2-0 in their games against the NSIC South. UIU (9-7, 6-4 NSIC) will take on the UMD Bulldogs (12-4, 8-2 NSIC) on Friday, Jan. 13 at 7:30 p.m. in Duluth, Minn. and then head back to St. Cloud, Minn. on Saturday, Jan. 14 to take on the SCSU Huskies (6-9, 3-7 NSIC) at 5:30 p.m. This week's games mark the final time this conference season that the men's teams will play the second game of the double headers; moving forward the men will play the first game each game day.
 
LIVE OPTIONS… The games will have live options available for fans who can't make it to Duluth and/or St. Cloud, Minnesota. Live stats and a webcast will be available through links at UIUPeacocks.com/Live. In addition, the games can be streamed through most mobile devices at NSICNetwork.com/UIUPeacocks or through the NSIC Network app on your favorite streaming device.
  
TAKING A DEEP DIVE ON UPPER IOWA… Upper Iowa snapped a three-game slide with a home sweep last Friday and Saturday over Bemidji State and Minnesota Crookston. The Peacocks' defense stood strong in the two games holding the Beavers and the Golden Eagles to shooting percentages of 40.8% from the floor and 30.4% from three to hold their guests to an average of 66 points including just 52 surrendered to Minnesota Crookston. For the season, Upper Iowa is scoring 80.0 points per game and allowing 78.9 to their opponents. UIU is shooting 45.2% from the floor, 33.6% from three and 74.6% (61^st NCAA/5^th NSIC) from the free throw line, where they have converted 25 more makes than their opponents. Possession is the key for Upper Iowa this season as they have forced 209 turnovers, but only given the ball up 173 times or 10.8 per game, which ranks 13^th in all of NCAA Division II for fewest turnovers and is the fourth-best mark in the conference.  

TWICE AS NICE... Upper Iowa's Jake Hilmer is this week's NSIC Men's Basketball South Division Player of the Week; the honor marks the second time this season Hilmer has earned the award. The senior point guard paced Upper Iowa in a pair of wins over Bemidji State and the Minnesota Crookston on Friday and Saturday in Dorman Memorial Gymnasium. Hilmer is the now the eighth NSIC Player of the Week for Upper Iowa; earlier on Monday, Lydia Haack earned her second NSIC South Division Player of the Week award as well. Hilmer led the Peacocks to the home sweep with 24.5 points, 5 assists, 4 rebounds and 3 steals per game as UIU defeated both Bemidji State and Minnesota Crookston. The point guard hit 60% of his shots including three trifectas and converting 10 of his 12 free throws. Hilmer scored 29 against Bemidji State and added 20 against Minnesota Crookston.
 
PEACOCK LEADERS… Jake Hilmer continues to lead the offense is scoring with 21.3 points per game. The Peacock point guard is also filling the stat sheet with 5.6 assists (18^th NCAA DII/2^nd NSIC), and 3.3 rebounds per game while shooting 45.4% from the field, 36.9% from deep and 82.2% (8^th NSIC) at the free throw line. Lucas Duax is averaging 17.7 points (10^th NSIC), 5.1 rebounds, 2.3 steals (15^th NCAA DII/1^st NSIC) and 2.5 assists per game and is shooting 54.9% (7^th NSIC) from the floor, 32.1% from beyond the arc and 77.4% (13^th NSIC) on his free throws. Nick Reid is posting per-game averages of 13.5 points, 9.1 rebounds (37^th NCAA DII/3^rd NSIC), and 1.0 assists while shooting 38.5% from the field, 34.0% from deep and 87.1% (3^rd NSIC) from the free throw line. Dylan Jones holds down the paint for UIU with 8.4 points and 4.2 rebounds on the block while knocking down 59.6% of his field goal attempts.
 
THE NSIC SOUTH DIVISION GAUNTLET… To this point in the season, the UIU's conference schedule has consisted of one trip through the NSIC South, a second match up with Winona State University and the first weekend of cross-divisional play. After ten games, the NSIC South standings show five teams all within one game of the top spot in the division. Sioux Falls, who lost at Upper Iowa 92-71, sits atop the standings at 7-2, while the Peacocks, along with Minnesota State University, Mankato, Wayne State College, and Southwest Minnesota State University, are all tied for second place with a 6-4 conference mark. Winona State is in sixth with a 4-6 record, while Augustana is seventh at 3-7 having lost four straight. Concordia University, St. Paul is 1-9 so far in their NSIC slate. The race for the division crown and the six available spots in the NSIC/Sanford Health Basketball Tournament may very well come down to the final games of the regular season in February.
 
SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS… After surviving an upset-scare at Concordia-St. Paul last Friday (80-78), UMD defeated Minnesota State (85-76) to earn a weekend sweep. The Bulldogs and Peacocks split their two games last season with UIU winning at home, but UMD getting the better of the decision in the NSIC/Sanford Health Tournament semifinals in Sioux Falls, S.D. Drew Blair leads the Bulldogs with a 20.4 points per game average, while Charlie Katona (13.6), Austin Andrews (12.3) and Joshua Brown (11.9) are all averaging double figures as well. Andrews is pulling down 7.1 rebounds per game and Blair and Katona are each grabbing 5.9 boards a contest. UMD is shooting 48.5% from the field and 35.3% from beyond the arc to average 82.0 points per game. UMD is averaging 25.5 free throw attempts per game with their aggressive offensive approach.
 
SCOUTING THE HUSKIES…  The Huskies broke a six-game losing streak on Saturday with a win in overtime at Concordia-St. Paul (87-78). St. Cloud State is averaging 75.5 points per game while shooting 42.8% from the field, 33.8% from deep and 74.7% from the charity stripe. Matthew Willert leads the team with 15.8 points and 4.1 rebounds per game, while Tommy Chatman adds 13.9 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.2 assists and Luke Taylor is averaging 11.3 points and 3.9 boards. Included in their six-game skid was an 84-80 overtime loss at Minnesota Duluth when the Huskies grabbed 10 steals against the Bulldogs.

ROAD TRIPPIN'…  Upper Iowa will stay on the road next weekend with two more NSIC cross-division games in North Dakota. The Peacocks will take on the Marauders of the University of Mary on Friday, Jan. 20 at 5:30 p.m. and the Beavers of Minot State University on Saturday, Jan. 21 at 3:30 p.m. UIU will return to Dorman Gym on Jan. 27-28 for the basketball program's Alumni Weekend as they host the Dragons of MSU Moorhead and Wolves of Northern State University.