FAYETTE, Iowa - UIU men's basketball (16-8, 11-6 GLVC) hits the road to Illinois to face McKendree (Ill.) (19-5, 13-3 GLVC) on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. and Illinois Springfield (15-9, 11-5 GLVC) on Saturday at 3 p.m. Both teams are in the mix for the conference tournament.
LIVE OPTIONS
Fans unable to attend the games in Illinois 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 was 2-0 last week. UIU beat Missouri-St. Louis (15-11, 9-8 GLVC), 65-57 and Maryville (Mo.) (3-22, 1-16 GLVC), 106-90. 65 points against the Tritons was a season low, and 106 points against the Saints was a season high.
Defense was the name of the game against USML. Upper Iowa forced 20 turnovers and had 13 steals. Kyle Hrncir recorded his 11th double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds, while Jack Miller scored 15 points, shooting 6-of-12 (50%) from the field. Eric Kenesie was an anchor on the defense after posting a team-high four steals.
The key to the win over MU was UIU's first-half shooting. The Peacocks shot 21-for-39 (53.8%) from the field and 8-for-17 (47.1%) from three, and the Tritons shot 13-for-21 (41.9%) from the floor and 2-for-9 (22.2%) from beyond the arc. All five starters scored double figures. Trey Lewis had 21, Tate Petersen posted 20, Miller scored 15, Hrncir had 14 and Cael Reichter recorded 12.
STATISTICS SUMMARY
Hrncir leads the team with 17.7 points per game (ppg), nine rebounds per game (rpg), 3.9 assists per game (apg) and 1.6 steals per game (spg). Reichter shoots a team-high 59.4% from the field, Petersen shoots a team-high 45.2% from three and Miller shoots a team-high 87.5% from the free-throw line.
Hrncir is first in the GLVC in double-doubles, second in rpg, fifth in apg, seventh in ppg and seventh in spg. Nationally, the redshirt junior is 12th in double-doubles, 15th in free throw attempts, 27th in total rebounds (216) and 30th in rebounds per game. Petersen is second in the conference in 3-point percentage.
As a unit, Upper Iowa averages 84.1 ppg, 36.9 rpg, 16.5 apg, nine spg and 2.8 blocks per game (bpg). The team has a field-goal percentage of 45.2%, a 3-point percentage of 33%, and free-throw percentages of 68%. In the GLVC, UIU is first in turnover margin (4.50), first in apg, first in spg, first in turnovers forced per game (16), second in assist/turnover ratio, second in scoring and fourth in rpg. Among Division II, the Peacocks are 16th in turnover margin, 23rd in assist/turnover ratio, 29th in turnovers forced per game and 36th in assists per game.
AROUND THE GLVC
As it stands right now, Rockhurst (Mo.) (19-5, 13-3 GLVC) leads the GLVC points rating system with a 4.16. UIndy (14-11, 12-5 GLVC) is second at 3.97 and William Jewell (Mo.) (16-8, 12-4 GLVC) is third at 3.97. Upper Iowa sits at seventh with 3.35. Illinois Springfield (15-9, 11-5 GLVC) is at 3.91, Missouri S&T (17-6,11-5 GLVC) is at 3.81, McKendree (Ill.) (19-5, 12-4 GLVC) is at 3.51 and Missouri-St. Louis (15-11, 9-8 GLVC) also made the field of eight at 3.06. The conference tournament is on March 5-8 in St. Louis.
The National Association of Basketball Coaches poll gave No. 23 Rockhurst 43 votes. The Hawks were unranked last week. Both McKendree and Missouri S&T fell out of the top 25
Justice Sutton secured GLVC Player of the Week after averaging 29 points and six points in wins over Drury (Mo.) (12-13, 7-10 GLVC) and previously ranked Missouri S&T. The redshirt sophomore shot 19-of-35 (54%) from the floor, 4-of-14 (29%) from the three, and 16-of-18 (89%) from the free-throw line.
Rockhurst's Drenin Dinkins (22.8 ppg) and Jaylen Wesley (21.2 ppg) are the top two scorers in the conference. Emmanuel Byrd of Truman State (Mo.) (10-14, 7-9 GLVC) leads the conference in rpg with 9.1. Jordan Rice of Illinois Springfield boasts a GLVC-best five spg.
Rockhurst leads the GLVC in points per game with 88.8. Lincoln (Mo.) (11-14, 5-12 GLVC) leads the conference in both rebounds per game with 38.4 and blocks per game with 3.8. Rockhurst shoots a GLVC-best 49.3% from the field, and Illinois-Springfield shoots a GLVC-best 38.1% from three.
ABOUT THE BEARCATS - Thursday at 7:30 p.m.
McKendree split last week, 1-1. The Bearcats fell to Indianapolis, 79-77, but beat Lewis (Ill.) (4-20, 2-14 GLVC), 69-59.
The Peacocks got the better of McKendree last year, winning 84-82 in overtime. UIU's Nick Reid recorded 35 points and hauled in nine rebounds. The Bearcats' Kevin Stein scored 21 points and had three rebounds.
Cha'Vez Woods scores a McKendree-best 16.1 ppg. He is 12th in the conference. Rini Harris dishes a team-high 2.5 apg. Franklin boards a team, most 6.5 rpg.
The Bearcats record 73.1 ppg, 36.5 rpg, 9.9 apg, six spg, and 2.6 bpg. McKendree scores the fourth-fewest points in the conference and allows the fewest points (63 ppg). The squad shoots 47.9% from the field, 34.5% from three, and 70.4% from the charity stripe.
George Suggs is in his fifth year as the head coach. He guided his 2022-23 team to its first-ever GLVC Championship and a Sweet Sixteen birth.
ABOUT THE PRAIRIE STARS - Saturday at 3 p.m.
Illinois Springfield lost both contests last week. They lost the first one, 77-69, to Missouri S&T, and the second, 81-68, to UIndy.
UIS fell to UIU, 80-62, last season. Noah King totaled 22 points and Reid recorded 19 for the Peacocks. Max Kunnert had an Illinois-Springfield-high 17 points.
Jordan Rice leads the Prairie Stars in ppg with 17 and apg with five. Alex Stell has a team-best 8.6 rpg. Stell also blocks the most shots on the team (1.2 bpg).
UIS posts 79.5 ppg, 36.5 rpg, 14.5 apg, 5.71 spg and 2.54 bpg. The Prairie Stars are 46.9% on their shot attempts, 38.1% on 3-point attempts and 67.6% on free throw attempts. The team scores the fifth most points of ppg and allows the fifth most points (72.5 ppg)
Matt Brock is in his seventh year at Illinois Springfield. He has an overall record of 184-132
UP NEXT
The Peacocks wrap up the season with a trip to Romeoville, Illinois, to square off with Lewis. The Flyers face the Prairie Stars on Thursday at 7:30 p.m.
