THIS WEEK IN PEACOCK MEN'S HOOPS… The Peacocks finished second in their debut season with the GLVC after posting a 15-5 mark, earning the No. 2 seed in the postseason conference tournament. Upper Iowa is set to face No. 7 Missouri-St. Louis in the first round of the GLVC Championship Tournament, hosted on the campus of Lindenwood in St. Charles, Mo. Game time is scheduled for Thursday, Mar. 7 at 8:15 p.m. CST.
FOLLOW ALONG… There will be a pair of live options for those who are unable to make it to the conference tournament this weekend. Both live stats and a webcast can be found through the links attached with this story. Fans can also refer to UIUPeacocks.com/Live for all links on each gameday.
ALL CONFERENCE SELECTIONS… The Great Lakes Valley Conference announced their postseason men's basketball awards and all-conference teams on Wednesday and four Peacocks were honored by the league
Jake Hilmer took home the GLVC Player of the Year,
Noah King was named to the first team,
Kyle Hrncir was listed on the all-defensive team and all-freshman team and
Caleb Delzell grabbed the James R. Spalding Sportsmanship Award.
REGIONAL RANKINGS…Upper Iowa men's basketball held steady in the fifth place spot in the third edition of the NCAA Regional Rankings, released on Wednesday afternoon by the NCAA committee. The Peacocks are one of ten teams that have made the list in the Midwest Region, joined by fellow GLVC members Indianapolis (No. 1), Lewis (No.8), Illinois Springfield (No. 9) and William Jewell (No. 10).
The Peacocks finished second place in the Great Lakes Valley Conference with a 15-5 league record and an 20-8 overall mark. They rank first in the nation in turnovers per game, only committing 7.6 per contest. UIU is slotted 19
th in NCAA DII in points per game with 87.0. Upper Iowa received votes in the NABC Top 25 Coaches Poll this week.
The top eight teams in the region will advance to the NCAA Midwest Region Tournament from March 16-17, 19. Automatic bids are granted to the winners of the GLVC, GMAC, GLIAC postseason tournaments, with the remaining five spots awarded on an at-large basis. The NCAA men's basketball selection show will be streamed online on Sunday, March 10, at 10 p.m. (CT) on NCAA.com.
CHASING THE ALL-TIME ASSIST RECORD… Senior
Jake Hilmer has shown his versatility on the hardwood as he not only has broken the all-time scoring record at Upper Iowa, but is closing in on the all-time assist record. The mark was set back in 1997 by Kevin Clipperton (1993-97), who dished out 610 assists in his career as a Peacock. Hilmer has compiled 605 on the year, six away from breaking the record.
LAST MATCHUP WITH THE TRITONS… The last time these two teams tangled, it was a conference tilt in Dorman Gymnasium. Upper Iowa led by as many as 17 before winning by a final decision of 81-68. Upper Iowa showcased a balanced offensive attack as each Peacock who entered the game scored. The home team also displayed an impressive assist to turnover ratio, totaling 17 assists to just five turnovers.
Jake Hilmer paced the offensive output with 23 points on 9-16 shooting.
Noah King followed close behind with a 16-point outing.
On the defensive end, the Peacocks held the Tritons to only 25% from the three-point line, slowing their attack to only 68 points.
ON THE HORIZON… The winner of the Upper Iowa versus Missouri-St. Louis matchup will play the victor of the Lewis versus Illinois Springfield game on Saturday at 8:15 p.m.
