Dorman Memorial Gymnasium buzzed with jubilance on Saturday evening as Upper Iowa men's basketball defeated #5 Missouri S&T in a 100-85 decision, putting a halt to the Miners' undefeated streak in conference play. The last time the Peacocks defeated a top-five team was back in the 2021-22 season against #5 Minnesota Duluth, trumping them 94-85 in Fayette. 

UIU improved to 16-7 on the year and 10-5 in conference play, while S&T was handed only their second loss of the season, falling to 19-2 and 13-1 in the GLVC. 

The scoring duo of Kyle Hrncir and Nick Reid fueled the Peacocks in their quest to the century mark. Hrncir put up a career-high 35 points on 14-18 shooting, including 2-3 beyond the arc. Reid netted 28 points on 7-16 shooting and went 13-13 at the charity stripe. 

Gavin Hershberger chipped in 11 points and added five assists, while Jack Miller tallied ten points on 4-5 shooting. 

Caleb Delzell reached his 1,000-career point tonight between his tenure at Kirkwood Community College and Upper Iowa. 

The Peacocks shot 53% (35-66) from the field and 36% (9-25) beyond the arc. The Miners mustered 55.7% (34-61) from the floor and 46.7% (7-15) from long range. UIU netted 21-25 at the foul line, while S&T sank 10-13.

The two teams battled it out for the first five minutes of the match until the Peacocks executed a 10-2 to go ahead 23-14 with 13:09 left in the first session. The run was fueled by back-to-back threes from Hershberger and Hrncir. 

Upper Iowa continued to build on their lead and stayed ahead of Missouri S&T for the remainder of the game. 

Before the end of the first half, UIU went on a 14-5 burst and later concluded the first 20 minutes ahead 53-44. 

The home team came out in the second half and kept their momentum going as a 7-1 run gave them a 60-45 advantage after the first three minutes of action. 

Missouri S&T constructed an 8-2 run to cut the deficit by ten with 12:54 left to play, but UIU retaliated with a 9-3 run of their own with scoring from Miller and Reid to maintain a comfortable lead (78-62). 

The Peacocks held their largest lead of the night, 84-68, at the seven-minute mark. The Miners chipped away and cut into the lead to trail by eight, 88-80, with just over four minutes remaining. 

Upper Iowa finished strong and concluded the contest on a 12-5 burst capped off by a steal and a Delzell dunk for his 1,000th point to end the night.

Men's basketball is back in action next week as they travel to St. Louis, Missouri to challenge Maryville on Feb. 13 and UMSL on Feb. 15.