FAYETTE, Iowa - Peacock men's basketball (17-10, 12-8 GLVC) travels to St. Louis later this week to compete in the GLVC Tournament. Upper Iowa begins the tournament by facing No. 2 seed William Jewell (Mo.) (19-9, 15-5 GLVC) on Thursday at 7:45 p.m.
LIVE OPTIONS
Fans unable to attend the games this weekend 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
UIU punched its ticket into the conference tournament after beating Lewis (Ill.) (4-24, 2-18 GLVC), 81-60, on Saturday. Kyle Hrncir had his 13th double-double of the season with 15 points and 12 rebounds, while Cael Reichter had his fourth of the season with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Jack Miller scored 15 points, shooting 3-of-7 (42.9%) from deep.
The Peacocks won the game after going on a 15-2 run and forcing three turnovers from two minutes into the second half to take a 53-41 advantage with 14:38 to go. Upper Iowa shot 5-5 from the field, 2-2 from three, and 3-3 from the free-throw line. Hrncir assisted or scored on 12 of the 15 points during this stretch. From that point on, UIU never trailed, as the team continued to maintain its lead.
STATISTICS SUMMARY
Hrncir leads the team with 17.1 points per game (ppg), 9.1 rebounds per game (rpg), 4.1 assists per game (apg) and 1.7 steals per game (spg). He is first in GLVC in double-doubles (13), first in rpg, fifth in apg, seventh in ppg and seventh in spg. Nationally, the redshirt junior is 14th in double-doubles, 21st in free throw attempts (193), 23rd in rebounds per game and 31st in total rebounds (247).
Tate Petersen shoots a team-high 44.6% from beyond the arc. Petersen is second in the conference in 3-point percentage. He averages 10.5 points, making 44.6% from deep. The Monticello native is tied for first in the GLVC in 3-point percentage and 20th in free throw percentage (76.5%).
Miller has scored 15.5 ppg in the last eight games. This has bumped his average to 11.5 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 1.7 apg and 1.2 spg. The guard is shooting 87.5% from the charity stripe.
The sophomore is also shooting 50.6% from the field this season, ranking eighth in the conference. In conference-only games, he has been even more efficient, connecting on 51.3% of his shots and is 39.4% from three-point range, ranking eighth and 10th, respectively. Miller also sits 14th in the conference in made three-pointers with 41.
Lewis is averaging 14.5 points per game, which ranks 22nd in the conference. He has also contributed 3.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.1 steals per game this season. The Johnston native ranks seventh in the conference and 51st nationally in free-throw percentage at 85.5%. In conference play, he is 11th in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.6) and 11th in total assists with 69.
Reichter is averaging 8.6 points, 5.7 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game. In February, he recorded three double-doubles, including a double-double in each of the last two games. He is also shooting a team-high 62.2% from the floor.
The freshman ranks 20th in total blocks (17), 21st in the conference in total rebounds (154) and 25th in rebounds per game. In GLVC play, he ranks 13th in total blocks (16), 14th in blocks per game (bpg) (0.8) and 17th in rebounds per game (6.4)
Upper Iowa is second in the GLVC, along with 43rd nationally in scoring offense with 83.4 ppg, but gives up the GLVC's third most points per game with 78.5. The team leads the conference in offensive rebounds per game with 12.6 and is sixth in total rebounds per game with 36.4. The Peacocks are first in the league and 26th nationally in assists per game with 16.9. UIU also shoots 45.1% from the field, 33.1% from beyond the arc and 67.9% from the free-throw line.
GLVC TOURNAMENT PREVIEW
Rockhurst (Mo.) (23-5, 17-3 GLVC) holds the No.1 seed in the GLVC tournament. Rockhurst extended its winning streak to 11 after defeating No. 3 seed Illinois Springfield (17-11, 13-7 GLVC), 84-75, this past weekend. Rockhurst takes on No. 8 seed Drury (Mo.) (15-13, 10-10) on Thursday at 5:30 p.m., while Illinois Springfield takes on No. 6 seed McKendree (Ill.) (21-7, 14-6) on Friday at 7:45 p.m.
The other matchup is No. 4 seed UIndy (16-12, 14-6 GLVC) and No. 5 seed Missouri S&T (19-8, 13-7) on Friday at 5:30 p.m. Indianapolis won the only meeting between the two schools, 72-61, on Jan. 29.
The leading scorer heading into the tournament is Drennin Dinkins of Rockhurst with 22.5 ppg. Jordan Rice is the leading playmaker with 5.3 apg. Shaun Arnold is the leading ball hawk with three spg.
Rockhurst enters with the best scoring offense, posting 87 ppg. McKendree enters with the best scoring defense, allowing 63.6 ppg. Missouri S&T is the best rebounding team in the tournament, averaging 37.9 rpg.
GLVC TOURNAMENT HISTORY
Upper Iowa has made the tournament every year since joining the GLVC in 2023-24. UIU made the semifinals in 2023-24 and 2024-25 by beating Missouri-St. Louis, 91-84, in overtime in 2023-24 and Truman State (Mo.), 80-66, in 2024-25. Hrncir had a double-double in last year's win over Truman State with 23 points and 10 rebounds.
The Peacock women's and men's teams have each made the tournament all three seasons since joining the conference. Upper Iowa is the only school during that span to have both teams reach the tournament all three years.
ABOUT THE CARDINALS - Thursday at 7:45 p.m.
William Jewell is coming off a 2-0 week. The Cardinal conquered Illinois Springfield, 69-68, and Truman State (12-16, 9-11 GLVC), 92-74.
Upper Iowa fell to William Jewell, 83-74, on Jan. 22. Petersen posted 17 points, shooting 6-for-10 (60%) from the field and 5-for-9 (55.6%) from three. Lewis scored 17 points, while Miller scored 15. Hrnicr had 12 points and eight rebounds, while Austin Miller had a team-high three steals.
The Cardinals' leading scorer was guard Justice Sutton, going 9-of-16 (56.2%) from the floor, 3-of-4 (75%) from beyond the arc and 9-of-10 (90%) from the charity stripe. He added 13 rebounds on the night. Issac Paterson scored 19 points, guard Kyle Scharbrough scored 12 points and Bradley Lightbourne scored 11 points.
Sutton averages a team-best and a GLVC third-best 20 points per game. Lightbourne leads William Jewell in blocks per game with 1.2, steals per game with 2.1, assists per game with 3.3 and rebounds per game with 5.9. He is also second in points per game with 15. Junior Peter Obang shoots a team-high 60% from the field, while redshirt freshman shoots a team-high 40% from three.
Seventh-year head coach Chris McCabe has an overall record of 97-99. He led William Jewell to a conference tournament title and NCAA tournament berth during the 2023-24 season.
