FAYETTE, Iowa - Peacock men's basketball kicks off the new year with two GLVC contests in St. Louis. UIU squares off with Maryville (Mo.) on Jan. 2 at 5 p.m. at the Moloney Arena and then squares off with Missouri-St. Louis (8-5, 2-2) on Jan. 4 at 3:15 p.m. at the Mark Twain Building.
LIVE OPTIONS
Fans unable to attend the games in St. Louis can stay connected with a pair of live options available at UIUPeacocks.com/Live, featuring access to live stats and a pay-per-view webcast through GLVCSN. Fans can also refer to the links attached to this story for all live options.
In addition to GLVCSN.com, viewers can catch the Peacocks on the GLVCSN iOS and Android mobile app, as well as the GLVCSN app on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and Android TV.
LAST TIME OUT
Upper Iowa split its last two games of 2025. On Dec. 14, the Peacocks beat Clarke 103-74 (3-11), but on Dec. 19 fell to Roosevelt (Ill.) (1-8), 83-80.
UIU played sluggishly in the first half of the Clarke game and only led 41-40 at halftime. The Peacocks picked up the pace in the second half and outscored the Pride 62-34 to earn their eighth win of the season. UIU was 14-of-37 (37.8%) from the field in the first half and was 24-of-40 (60%) in the second half.
Both the Peacocks and the Lakers fought back and forth throughout the game, but Lakers' guard Jalen Windham hit a 3-point buzzer-beater to seal their first win of the season. Upper Iowa's previous loss was on Nov. 20 against Central Missouri, snapping a six-game win streak.
Forward Kyle Hrncir nearly had a triple-double in the game against Roosevelt with 22 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists. He also had 12 points, five rebounds, six assists, three steals and a block against Clarke.
Guard Trey Lewis averaged 14.5 points, three assists, three rebounds and a steal through both contests. Guard Tate Petersen posted an average of 10.5 points, 1.5 rebounds and 0.5 steals per game. Forward Cael Reichter recorded an average of 10.5 points, six rebounds, 1.5 steals and a block in the final two contests.
NABC POLL
Upper Iowa fell out of the top 25 after being ranked No. 24. The Peacocks received 13 votes in the most recent poll on Dec. 21. This tied for 28th in the country with Missouri Western (10-3), led by former Peacock coach Brooks McKowen.
GLVC opponent Missouri S&T (8-2, 2-1 GLVC) is ranked 17th and received 140 votes in the latest poll. The Miners were previously ranked 10th. McKendree (Ill.) received three votes.
STATISTICS SUMMARY
Hrncir leads UIU in points per game (ppg) with 19.8. He also leads in rebounds per game (rpg) with 9.2 and in assists per game (apg) with four. In the GLVC, the redshirt junior ranks third in rebounds per game, fourth in points per game and fourth in assists per game. He ranks 10th nationally in double-doubles with six.
Lewis is averaging 15.4 ppg, 2.5 apg and 1.4 spg. Petersen is averaging 10.8 ppg, 1.5 rpg and one apg off the bench. Reichter averages 6.6 ppg and 4.5 rpg
Upper Iowa averages 87.5 points per game and has made 311-of-650 (47.8%) of its shot attempts. The team has also shot 92-for-269 (34.2%) from beyond the arc. The Peacocks also average 36.4 rebounds, 15.9 assists and 9.5 steals per game. In the GLVC, UIU ranks second in points per game (87.5 ppg) and offensive rebounds per game (13.5).
AROUND THE GLVC
Upper Iowa, Indianapolis (5-6, 3-0 GLVC) and Illinois Springfield (7-4, 4-0 GLVC) are the only teams still undefeated in conference play. McKendree (9-2, 2-1 GLVC) and Southwest Baptist (Mo.) (8-4, 2-2 GLVC) have the conference's longest total win streak with four.
Rockhurst's (Mo.) (8-3, 2-1 GLVC) Drenin Dinkins won the latest GLVC Player of the Week award back on Dec. 22. The senior took home the honor after leading his team to a 104-79 victory over William Woods (Mo.) (5-9) and a 92-72 victory over Emporia State (Kan.) (4-7). He averaged 23 ppg, 9.5 rpg and three apg.
ABOUT THE SAINTS - Friday at 5 p.m.
Maryville is 1-2 in its last three matches. The Saints lost 92-88 to Harris-Stowe State (Mo.) and lost 110-63 to Central Missouri. However, the team beat Health Sciences & Pharmacy (Mo.) by a score of 86-68.
Upper Iowa beat Maryville in both meetings last season. In the most recent meeting, the Peacocks beat the Saints 82-73 in St. Louis. Noah King (22 points), Hrncir (18 points), Nick Reid (17 points) and Caleb Delzell (10 points) all had double-figures in the game. Reid hauled in nine rebounds during that game, while Hrncir hauled in six.
Maryville also had four players in that game reach double-figures. Trey Redd (17 points), Lucas Burton (15 points), Williams (14 points) and Anthony Holden (12 points).
Veteran guard Evan Palmquist leads the Saints this season in points per game with 16, while his teammate guard/forward Noah Courtney is averaging 15 ppg. Kobe Clark has team-highs of 2.8 apg and 9.6 rpg. Courtney and Palmquist each average two apg.
Second-year head coach Preston Ingram is in his second season with an overall record of 23-21. He previously coached at Missouri Baptist for five years.
ABOUT THE TRITONS - Sunday at 3:15 p.m.
Missouri-St. Louis last played in the River City Holiday Classic. The Tritons beat Texas A&M - Kingsville, 61-56, on Dec. 16th. They fell to Dallas Baptist (Texas), 81-77, on Dec. 17th.
Upper Iowa lost all three games last season against Missouri-St. Louis. Both teams last faced off in the GLVC tournament semifinals on March 8, where the Tritons held off the Peacocks in overtime to win 87-80.
In the contest, Reid recorded 27 points and nine rebounds, while Hrncir recorded 20 points and nine rebounds. King added 13 points in the contest.
Matt Enright led the Tritons in scoring with 22. Janeir Harris totaled 17 points and Savon Wykle totaled 16 points. Troy Glover II notched a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds
During the 2025-26 season, Taye Moore has a Maryville-best 13.8 ppg, while Jake Hamilton has the second-best with 11.7 ppg. Junior forwardVincent Davis III leads the team in rebounds per game with 5.6. Miles Boland has a team-high 4.6 apg.
Bob Sundvold is in his 13th year as the head coach of Missouri-St. Louis and has accumulated a 224-142 overall record.
UP NEXT
The Peacocks return home next week. Upper Iowa plays UIndy on Thursday, Jan. 8, at 7 p.m. and plays Lewis (Mo.) (3-8, 1-2 GLVC) on Saturday, Jan. 10, at 3 p.m.
