By: Steven Wilson – Graduate Assistant, Sports Information
Records
Upper Iowa (1-3) || Missouri-St. Louis (2-1)
Recap
The Peacocks used a stifling defense and an aggressive attack at the rim in the second half to rally from a 15-point deficit to win by six and earn their first victory of the 2013 season over visiting Missouri-St. Louis, 81-75, inside Dorman Gym on Tuesday night. UIU's offensive attack was spearheaded by Grant Lang who finished with 12 points, but the Peacocks had seven players score nine or more points against the Tritons.
With just seven minutes remaining in regulation and the Peacocks trailing by seven points in their contest with the Tritons of the University of Missouri – St. Louis, the Peacocks mounted a monumental comeback to seal their first victory of the 2013 season.
Grant Lang converted a layup to cut it to a five-point game before
Jordan Hay rejected his second shot in the game under the Triton's hoop. UIU cut it to three with two free throws before UMSL got one of their own.
After a timeout, UIU tied the game on a drive and layup from
David Smith tying the game at 71 with 2:53 left. The Tritons didn't wait very long to retake the lead off a Aareon Smith jumper at the 2:16 mark. Again, Smith drove to the hoop, but this time he kicked it out to the corner. Hay was waiting for it and he knocked down the biggest shot of the game as his trey gave the Peacocks their first lead since the 10:53 mark in the first half, 74-73.
That three-pointer and another layup from Smith – one he laid off the glass softly with his left-hand – propelled the Peacocks to victory inside Dorman Gym on Tuesday night, 81-75, in non-conference play.
The win marked
Brooks McKowen's first as a head coach and the significance of winning in front of a home crowd and in front of his dad UIU Hall of Famer Marty McKowen was something he embraced after the game.
Yet, UIU may not have pulled out the win if it wasn't for their defense.
The Peacocks took an early lead, 11-5, six minutes into the game, but the visitors stormed back to score 45 points in the first half. The Tritons owned a six-point lead at halftime thanks to 13 points off turnovers and 25 points from their bench.
The second half was a completely different story and it felt like a different game. The Tritons punched UIU in the mouth right off the bat as UMSL led by 15 points less than four minutes into the second half, but the Peacocks stormed back with a tenacious defense and a hunger for getting to the rim.
Kierre Ogbonna,
Jace Hanna, Autin Mecca, Lang and Hay stepped onto the court and helped UIU chip away at the UMSL lead. In just a three-minute span, the Peacocks had crawled back within three points of their guests thanks to buckets in the paint from Mecca and Ogbonna, a three from Ogbonna and two free throws from Hanna.
The Tritons pushed back with a mini-offensive spurt of their own as they regained a double-digit lead, 68-57, with 8:52 left in regulation. The Peacocks turned to their defense again as they held UMSL to just three buckets on 13 attempts in the final eight minutes.
Despite only shooting 62-percent from the charity stripe in the game, UIU converted three of four from the line in the final two minutes to seal the win, 81-75.
After giving up 45 points and a 53-percent shooting clip to the Tritons in the first half, UIU's renewed defense held UMSL to just 34-percent shooting and 30 total points in the final 20 minutes of action.
Lang led all scorers with 12 points, while six other Peacocks finished with nine or more points. The Peacocks shot 44-percent from deep and 53-percent from the floor in the game.
Stat of the Game
The Peacocks won the battle of the boards for the first time this season as they outrebounded the Tritons, 38-30.
UIU Standouts
Lang (12 points, 3 rebounds), Smith (10 points, 4-for-4 shooting, 4 assists, 3 rebounds),
Jimmy Roth (10 points),
Bo Pagel (9 points, 3 assists), Weeber (9 points, 4 rebounds), Hay (9 points, team-high 8 rebounds), Mecca (7 points, 5 rebounds), Ogbonna (6 points, 3 rebounds).
Sounding Off
Head Coach Brooks McKowen After the Game…
Second Half Play… "We went into halftime and we just talked about guarding the basketball. We made it very clear that if we didn't guard the basketball, then we weren't going to win the game. I give that second group off the bench the credit for that – they're the ones who brought the energy and they got it done tonight."
UIU Standouts… "
David Smith did a great job tonight. He didn't force any shots tonight and he did a great job attacking the rim and finding the open shooters. He had a few turnovers, but part of that is because we put the basketball in his hands a lot. He'll improve and that's something he's going to learn from. I'm okay with aggressive turnovers."
On the Rebounding… "That's just an effort thing. Most of the year, we're going to be outsized. We're going to go up against some talented big guys this year, so we need to get bodies on them and go after the basketball.
Jordan Hay is one of those guys who can do that – he crashed the boards hard tonight and that was a big key to the game."
On the Defense… "Our offense is going to be fine this year – we did a great job being aggressive tonight. But defense was the key. We found a way to get some stops late in the game and that's why we got the win."
Up Next
The Peacocks' home stand was short-lived as UIU will hit the road again to take on William Jewel College this Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m.