Sam Elgin and Tucker Wentzien (pitcured) combined for 38 points in Saturday's contest with the Wolves of Northern State, but it wasn't enough as UIU fell at home for just the fourth time this season.
2/2/2013 11:16:00 PM
Box Score
Four steals in the final four and a half minutes of Upper Iowa’s conference matchup with Northern State gave the Peacocks a glimpse of hope, but Collin Pryor’s 24-point, 10-rebound double-double paired with sloppy offensive mistakes ultimately doomed UIU in a 69-60 loss at home.
“It was all between the ears tonight – we didn’t play a very intelligent game,” Peacock Head Coach Brian Dolan said. “We played very hard. I have no problem with the effort – the mental effort just wasn’t good enough. We failed the test tonight and the better team won, period.”
The poor offense contributed to the Peacocks 5th loss in the Northern Sun Conference this season dropping UIU to 15-7 overall. The win, on the other hand, gives the Wolves a 12-4 conference mark and a 17-6 overall record.
The Peacocks entered Saturday's game having given up only two double-doubles to opponents all year and none since December 8th against Minnesota State University. The Wolves snapped that streak quickly though as Pryor and Dustin Tetzlaff both recorded double-doubles for NSU - marking the first time UIU has allowed two players to record a double-double this year. Pryor finished with 24 points and ten rebounds, while Tetzlaff had 15 points and 10 boards.
“We had one of those nights where things didn’t go our way,” Dolan said. “We weren’t creating opportunities and like I said, ‘the better team won tonight.’”
Sam Elgin and Tucker Wentzien led the way on offense for UIU as both finished tied for a team-high 19 points. But it was Wentzien who has had a hot hand in 2013 - leading the Peacocks in scoring in six of their last seven games.
The Wolves left the big 6-foot-8 post free beyond the three-point arc twice in the opening three minutes and the Solon, Iowa native knocked down back-to-back treys to give UIU an early 6-2 lead.
Wentzien was actually the only Peacock who felt the hot start as he scored all of the Peacocks first ten points. David Smith finally broke the Wentzien scoring streak with a layup at the 11:21 mark and he drained two free throws on the following possession. Despite Smith's quick four points, NSU still held a one-point lead, 15-14, at the 9:46 mark in the opening period.
But the Peacocks took the lead on the next possession as Grant Lang stole the ball away from the Wolves’ offense and found Sam Elgin for a fast break layup.
Pryor helped the Wolves bounce right back as he found Trent Zomer in the lane for an open layup.
The Peacocks turned back to Elgin, who answered with a baseline drive and layup at the 6:34 mark to give UIU its one-point lead back, 18-17.
After Tetzlaff pushed his point total to double-digits with a layup in the paint, #Joey Woods made two free throws to give the Peacocks their last lead of the first half, 20-19, with 6:28 remaining. NSU finished the first half on a 14-9 run and took a 33-29 lead into halftime.
Wentzien had a team-high 12 points in the first half, but Elgin wasn’t far behind as the senior from Center Point, Iowa had 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting. The Peacocks wasted no time going back to Wentzien in the second half as he started the second stanza with a jam on an alley-oop pass from Woods, pulling the Peacocks within two, 33-31. Then, he converted a three-point play to give UIU its first lead since the first half, 34-33, with 18:47 left in the game.
The Wolves stormed back with a 5-0 run over the next two and a half minutes before Grant Lang drained a three-pointer from the corner to pull UIU within one, 38-37.
Both Woods and Pryor hit back-to-back buckets for their respective squads as the game remained close, 42-41, with 14:35 remaining.
But that’s where UIU went ice cold.
The Peacocks were held scoreless from the 14:35 mark to the 8:40 mark in the second half as NSU went on a 7-0 run.
Wentzien killed the run with a bucket in the paint, but he couldn’t stop the bleeding as Tetzlaff answered right back with a bucket of his own.
The Wolves would then earn their largest lead of the night as Pryor hit two free throws and Mack Arvidson drained a bomb from downtown. The ensuing 13-point lead for NSU was cut to six points with 2:14 left, but the Peacocks came no closer.
NSU made 13 of its 16 free throws over the final four minutes of play to seal the 69-60 road victory.
The Peacocks made just 1-of-11 three-point attempts in the second half and finished the night 4-of-24 from beyond the arc, tying a season-low 16.7 percent from deep.
“We just made bad decisions,” Dolan said. “It was uncharacteristic for us. We weren’t very coachable. We kept stressing, ‘attacking the basket’ and we shot 24 threes. It’s something we’ll need to address tomorrow.”
While Elgin and Wentzien finished the night tied for the lead in scoring, Elgin added six rebounds, three assists, two steals and a career-high four blocks to his stat-line. It was Elgin’s 14th double-digit scoring night of the season, while Wentzien now has 18 double-figure scoring outings this year, including the last nine straight.
The loss set the Peacocks back a bit, but UIU has not lost back-to-back conference games all season and will look to keep that streak alive next Friday night as they head north to take on the Bulldogs of Minnesota Duluth. That game is set to tip-off at 8 p.m.
Four steals in the final four and a half minutes of Upper Iowa’s conference matchup with Northern State gave the Peacocks a glimpse of hope, but Collin Pryor’s 24-point, 10-rebound double-double paired with sloppy offensive mistakes ultimately doomed UIU in a 69-60 loss at home.
“It was all between the ears tonight – we didn’t play a very intelligent game,” Peacock Head Coach Brian Dolan said. “We played very hard. I have no problem with the effort – the mental effort just wasn’t good enough. We failed the test tonight and the better team won, period.”
The poor offense contributed to the Peacocks 5th loss in the Northern Sun Conference this season dropping UIU to 15-7 overall. The win, on the other hand, gives the Wolves a 12-4 conference mark and a 17-6 overall record.
The Peacocks entered Saturday's game having given up only two double-doubles to opponents all year and none since December 8th against Minnesota State University. The Wolves snapped that streak quickly though as Pryor and Dustin Tetzlaff both recorded double-doubles for NSU - marking the first time UIU has allowed two players to record a double-double this year. Pryor finished with 24 points and ten rebounds, while Tetzlaff had 15 points and 10 boards.
“We had one of those nights where things didn’t go our way,” Dolan said. “We weren’t creating opportunities and like I said, ‘the better team won tonight.’”
Sam Elgin and Tucker Wentzien led the way on offense for UIU as both finished tied for a team-high 19 points. But it was Wentzien who has had a hot hand in 2013 - leading the Peacocks in scoring in six of their last seven games.
The Wolves left the big 6-foot-8 post free beyond the three-point arc twice in the opening three minutes and the Solon, Iowa native knocked down back-to-back treys to give UIU an early 6-2 lead.
Wentzien was actually the only Peacock who felt the hot start as he scored all of the Peacocks first ten points. David Smith finally broke the Wentzien scoring streak with a layup at the 11:21 mark and he drained two free throws on the following possession. Despite Smith's quick four points, NSU still held a one-point lead, 15-14, at the 9:46 mark in the opening period.
But the Peacocks took the lead on the next possession as Grant Lang stole the ball away from the Wolves’ offense and found Sam Elgin for a fast break layup.
Pryor helped the Wolves bounce right back as he found Trent Zomer in the lane for an open layup.
The Peacocks turned back to Elgin, who answered with a baseline drive and layup at the 6:34 mark to give UIU its one-point lead back, 18-17.
After Tetzlaff pushed his point total to double-digits with a layup in the paint, #Joey Woods made two free throws to give the Peacocks their last lead of the first half, 20-19, with 6:28 remaining. NSU finished the first half on a 14-9 run and took a 33-29 lead into halftime.
Wentzien had a team-high 12 points in the first half, but Elgin wasn’t far behind as the senior from Center Point, Iowa had 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting. The Peacocks wasted no time going back to Wentzien in the second half as he started the second stanza with a jam on an alley-oop pass from Woods, pulling the Peacocks within two, 33-31. Then, he converted a three-point play to give UIU its first lead since the first half, 34-33, with 18:47 left in the game.
The Wolves stormed back with a 5-0 run over the next two and a half minutes before Grant Lang drained a three-pointer from the corner to pull UIU within one, 38-37.
Both Woods and Pryor hit back-to-back buckets for their respective squads as the game remained close, 42-41, with 14:35 remaining.
But that’s where UIU went ice cold.
The Peacocks were held scoreless from the 14:35 mark to the 8:40 mark in the second half as NSU went on a 7-0 run.
Wentzien killed the run with a bucket in the paint, but he couldn’t stop the bleeding as Tetzlaff answered right back with a bucket of his own.
The Wolves would then earn their largest lead of the night as Pryor hit two free throws and Mack Arvidson drained a bomb from downtown. The ensuing 13-point lead for NSU was cut to six points with 2:14 left, but the Peacocks came no closer.
NSU made 13 of its 16 free throws over the final four minutes of play to seal the 69-60 road victory.
The Peacocks made just 1-of-11 three-point attempts in the second half and finished the night 4-of-24 from beyond the arc, tying a season-low 16.7 percent from deep.
“We just made bad decisions,” Dolan said. “It was uncharacteristic for us. We weren’t very coachable. We kept stressing, ‘attacking the basket’ and we shot 24 threes. It’s something we’ll need to address tomorrow.”
While Elgin and Wentzien finished the night tied for the lead in scoring, Elgin added six rebounds, three assists, two steals and a career-high four blocks to his stat-line. It was Elgin’s 14th double-digit scoring night of the season, while Wentzien now has 18 double-figure scoring outings this year, including the last nine straight.
The loss set the Peacocks back a bit, but UIU has not lost back-to-back conference games all season and will look to keep that streak alive next Friday night as they head north to take on the Bulldogs of Minnesota Duluth. That game is set to tip-off at 8 p.m.
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