Upper Iowa men's basketball fell to Truman State 97-85 in their first conference game of the season in Kirksville, Mo. The Peacocks will get the opportunity for redemption next Saturday, Dec. 9 when they host the Bulldogs in Fayette at 3 p.m.
UIU's offense was slow going from the jump as they trailed TSU 10-0 to start the contest. The Peacocks did not make it onto the scoreboard until five minutes of the first half had passed. Despite the Bulldogs' quick burst to open the game, they also went through a scoring drought after going nearly six minutes without scoring. After enduring the drought, TSU still held a 13-4 lead with just over 11 minutes remaining in the first stanza.
The Bulldogs rallied all the way up to a 17-point advantage (28-11), but allowed Upper Iowa to string together a 10-3 run with spark from
Austin Hilmer off the bench, combined with scoring from
William Kiburis and free throws from
Jake Hilmer to pull the deficit to 31-21.
Peacock leading scorer J. Hilmer went the first 20 minutes without netting a single field goal, but attempted to find his rhythm at the charity stripe as he contributed to the team score with five straight free throws with under five minutes to play in the first half.
TSU outscored UIU 12-6 in the last couple of minutes to command a 40-35 lead at the end of the first half. The Bulldogs knocked down 7-15 from long distance to help extend their lead, while shooting 48.5% from the floor. The Peacocks shot 32% from the field in the first half and struggled from the free throw line, only converting 11-18 (61%).
J. Hilmer opened the second stint with a three-pointer for his first field goal of the game and set the tone for Upper Iowa's scoring in the remaining 20 minutes.
Noah King caught fire as he scored one possession after another and concluded the game with 22 points on 10-15 shooting. J. Hilmer found his groove as he went 2-2 from three-point land, ending the game 5-12 from the floor while going 7-7 from the foul line, recording 19 points.
Christian Haffner and
Kyle Hrncir both added ten points to aid the Peacocks.
Upper Iowa outscored Truman State 55-52 in the second half, but were unable to overcome the home team's strong shooting. The Bulldogs netted 7-8 from long distance in the second half, totaling 14-23 (60.9%) for the entire game. UIU's shooting improved as they concluded the contest 32-61 (52.5%) from the floor.
The Peacocks are back in action on Tuesday at 6 p.m. for their home opener as they welcome North Central University (MN) to Dorman Gymnasium. UIU has a rematch with Truman State at home next Saturday at 3 p.m.
