IU men's basketball lost a tough-fought battle to McKendree on Saturday evening as they came up just shy in their comeback effort, falling in an 81-80 decision. The Peacocks trailed the Bearcats by as many as 14 points in the first half, but rallied and fought back in the second period to take the lead and entertain a back-and-forth contest with the visitors until time expired. 
 
McKendree held a big presence under the rim as Milos Vicentic wreaked havoc on the UIU defense, scoring 27 points and going 10-15 from the field. Their other starting forward, Caleb Zurliene, grabbed 15 rebounds and blocked four of the team's five shots. 

Upper Iowa struggled from the field as they netted 39.2% (29-74), while McKendree converted 55.4% (31-56) from the floor. 

The Peacocks had three scorers in double digits. Noah King led the way with 22 points, followed by Nick Reid with 19 and Hilmer with 17. Reid notched a double-double as he hauled in 10 rebounds to aid his scoring efforts. 
 
The Bearcats gained their spark in the first half when they strung together a 17-1 scoring run to give them a 21-8 lead with just over 12 minutes of action left before halftime. King converted back-to-back three pointers down the stretch to bring the home team within five (29-24), but the Bearcats responded with five straight points to command a ten-point lead. 
 
Upper Iowa put together a 10-1 scoring stretch to close out the first period, fueled by free throws and layups from both Ethan Steinbronn and King. UIU went into the locker room trailing the visitors 42-36. Steinbronn gave the Peacocks a spark off the bench in the first half as he went 2-2 from the field and 3-3 at the charity stripe in just over three minutes of court time. 
 
The Peacocks opened the second stint with a 6-1 burst to close the gap to one (43-42). McKendree maintained control until a Hilmer jumper at 14:17 knotted the game up at 49 apiece. UIU took the lead at the ten-minute mark as Reid netted back-to-back jumpers. 
 
The home team commanded a 75-60 lead after a 9-0 run with under five minutes left to play. The Bearcats responded with a 13-2 burst of their own, claiming a 78-72 advantage with 30 seconds left. 
 
Hilmer then hit a momentous step back three-pointer at the top of the key, followed by a layup from King on the very next possession to trail by one, 78-77.
 
The Peacocks put the Bearcats at the foul line where they tacked on another three points, putting them up by four, while the home squad was unable to convert anything on the offensive end during that stretch. A full court shot in desperation from Reid went through the net as the buzzer sounded, allowing McKendree to escape with a one-point win. 
 
Upper Iowa is on the road next week against two of the top four teams in the conference. They face No. 1 Indianapolis on Thursday and No. 4 Lewis on Saturday.