FAYETTE, Iowa - Peacock men's basketball (14-6, 9-4 GLVC) starts the week against stiff competition on the road. Upper Iowa plays No. 24 Missouri S&T (14-6, 9-4 GLVC) on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. and Lincoln (Mo.) (8-13, 2-11 GLVC) on Saturday at 3 p.m.
LIVE OPTIONS
Fans unable to attend the games in Missouri 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 fell to Southwest Baptist (Mo.) (12-9, 6-7 GLVC) on Thursday, 84-76, before rebounding with a 96-76 win over Drury (Mo.) (10-11, 5-8 GLVC) on Saturday. Trey Lewis reached 1,000 career points after scoring 13 points against the Panthers.
Lewis also scored 18 points and Kyle Hrncir had seven assists in the loss to the Bearcats. Jack Miller recorded a career-high 25 points, shooting 9-for-12 (75%) from the field and 3-for-5 (60%) from three in the 20-point win over the Panthers.
1000 POINT WATCH
Lewis eclipsed the 1000-point threshold last week, while Hrncir is closing in on the accomplishment. The redshirt junior needs five more points this weekend to become the 32nd player in program history to accomplish the feat at Upper Iowa.
STATISTICS SUMMARY
Hrncir leads UIU in points per game (ppg) with 17.6, while also leading the team in rebounds per game (rpg) with nine and assists per game (apg) with four.
The Farmington, Minnesota native is first in the GLVC in double-doubles with nine. He is also third in rebounds per game, fourth in assists per game, sixth in steals per game (spg) and seventh in points per game. Nationally, the redshirt junior ranks 14th in double-doubles, 13th in free throw attempts (157), 31st in rebounds per game and 32nd in total rebounds.
Lewis is averaging 16 ppg, 3.2 apg, 3.3 rpg and 1.3 spg. He is sixth in the conference in free-throw percentage (84.7%). The Johnston native is 12th in assists per game in the GLVC.
Petersen posts 10.5 ppg, 1.5 rpg and 1.3 apg off the bench. In the conference, he is third in 3-point percentage (44.6%), eighth in 3-point field goals per game (2.4) and 20th in free throw percentage (73.9%). Miller averages 9.8 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 1.8 apg and 1.3 spg. The sophomore is 11th in the GLVC in field goal percentage (50.9%)
As a team, the Peacocks are shooting 46% from the floor and 33% from beyond the arc, while averaging 37 rebounds per game. Upper Iowa leads the GLVC in steals per game (9.05) and assists per game (16.75). Hrncir (seventh), Austin Hilmer (13th), Miller (20th) and Lewis (22nd) all rank within the top 25 of the GLVC in steals per game.
Among Division II, Upper Iowa ranks eighth in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.54) and ninth in turnover margin (5.2). The Peacocks also rank 35th in scoring offense (85.6 ppg) and 38th in turnovers forced per game (10.9).
AROUND THE GLVC
UIU is tied for fifth with UIndy (11-10, 9-4 GLVC) in the GLVC standings. Illinois Springfield (14-6, 10-2 GLVC) is alone at the top, while McKendree (Ill.) (17-4, 10-3 GLVC) and Rockhurst (Mo.) (16-5, 10-3 GLVC) are tied for second. William Jewell (Mo.) (13-7, 9-3 GLVC) sits at third, while S&T sits at fourth. McKendree has the conference's longest win streak of six games.
Missouri S&T and McKendree (Ill.) (17-4, 10-3 GLVC) are the only GLVC teams in the National Association of College Basketball Coaches (NABC) Poll. The Miners received 32 points and fell to No. 24 after previously being ranked No. 16. McKendree received 45 points and climbed into the rankings at No. 23.
Shaun Arnold took home GLVC Player of the Week after guiding Indianapolis to wins over Missouri S&T and Lincoln. The forward averaged 19.5 points, 13.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 3.5 steals.
Rockhurst's Drenin Dinkins (22.5 ppg) and Jaylen Wesley (20.9 ppg) are the top two scorers in the conference. Emmanuel Byrd of Truman State (Mo.) (8-10, 5-5 GLVC) has a GLVC-high 9.1 rpg. Keion Epps (Drury) averages a conference-high 5.4 apg.
Rockhurst leads the GLVC in points per game with 89.5. Lincoln leads the conference in both rebounds per game with 38.5 and blocks per game with 3.86. Rockhurst has a GLVC-best 48.6% field goal percentage, and Illinois-Springfield has a GLVC-best 40.2% from three.
ABOUT THE MINERS - Thursday at 7:30 p.m.
Missouri S&T went 1-1 in last week's games. The Miners lost, 72-61, to UIndy on Thursday, but bounced back to beat Lewis (Ill.) (4-16, 2-10 GLVC), 90-59, on Saturday.
Upper Iowa got the better of S&T earlier this season, winning 87-80. Hrncir scored 23 points and hauled in 11 rebounds, while Lewis scored 22 points for the Peacocks. Both shot 8-for-16 (50%) from the field. Andrew Young recorded 26 points and hauled in 12 rebounds, while Blaise Beauchamp recorded 20 points.
Young leads Missouri S&T in scoring with 15.4 ppg, putting the senior 13th in the GLVC. Cameron Stovall has a team-high 6.6 rpg. Alex Benassi records a team-best 3.2 apg.
The Miners total 80.1 ppg, 36.6 rpg, 14.1 apg and 8.8 spg. The team is seventh in the conference in field goal percentage (46.1%) and 10th in 3-point percentage (33%). S&T scores the fifth most points in the GLVC and allows the fifth fewest points (69.8).
Bill Walker is in his seventh season as the head coach. Walker formerly played for the Miners in the 1980s. He has a 91-89 record with the Miners in his seven years of coaching.
ABOUT THE BLUE TIGERS - Saturday at 3 p.m.
Lincoln is coming off back-to-back losses. The Blue Tigers lost their first game to Illinois Springfield, 85-76, and their second to Indianapolis, 101-73.
UIU beat LU, 76-62, earlier this season. Lewis led Upper Iowa in points with 22, while Hrncir followed with 16. Enari Thomas and Solomon Oraegbu each scored 16 points for Lincoln.
The leading scorer for the Blue Tigers is Oraegbu with 19.9 ppg. He is third in the GLVC in scoring. Max Ekono has a team-best 8.4 rpg. Tyler Champman dishes out a team-high 3.1 apg.
LU records 73.8 ppg, 38.5 rpg, 12.3 apg and 5.3 spg. The team is 14th in the conference in field goal percentage (41.3%) and 11th in 3-point percentage (32.8%). In the GLVC, the Blue Tigers score the ninth-most points (73.8) and allow the third most (78.8).
Jimmy Drew is in his fourth year as the head coach. He has accumulated a record of 59-38.
UP NEXT
The Peacocks play their final home games next week. On Thursday, Feb. 12, UIU faces Missouri-St. Louis (12-10, 6-7 GLVC) at 7 p.m. and on Saturday, Feb. 14, faces Maryville (Mo.) (2-19, 0-13 GLVC) at 3 p.m.
