St. Cloud State Men’s Basketball Hits the Road for Final Game of 2023

Tuesday, December 19

Fayette, Iowa

Noon CT

St. Cloud State

Upper Iowa

Photo by: Jason Soria

St. Cloud State Men’s Basketball Hits the Road for Final Game of 2023

12/18/2023 5:58:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Huskies travel to play former NSIC foe, Upper Iowa

ST. CLOUD, Minn. – St. Cloud State Men's Basketball (5-5 overall, 2-4 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference) travels to Fayette, Iowa to face off against the Upper Iowa Peacocks (5-4, 1-1 Great Lakes Valley Conference) on Tuesday, December 19. Tipoff is scheduled for noon CT at Dorman Memorial Gymnasium. It is the Huskies final game of 2023.

FOLLOW THE HUSKIES
The game will be streamed live on the GLVC Network (note – there is a $10 single-game pass you will need to purchase). Live stats will be provided by UIU. Links to each coverage option can be found on the St. Cloud State Men's Basketball schedule page.

LAST TIME OUT
On Saturday, the Huskies hosted the Bemidji State Beavers in an NSIC matchup, and it did not disappoint. The first seven minutes of the game bounced back and forth between the two teams. Neither team was able to gain a lead more than five points. Freshman Lucas Morgan (Sydney, Australia) briefly gave the Huskies a two-point lead when he drove into the paint and finished with his left hand. The Beavers then embarked on a 25-9 run that pushed their lead to 14 points with 4:10 remaining in the first half. Bemidji State connected on five of their nine first half threes during that run going into halftime holding on to a a 47-38 lead. The Beavers offense shot a scorching 55% from the field and 56% from beyond the arc.

St. Cloud State came out of the halftime break and went a 15-9 run to cut the Beaver lead down to three points after freshman Jamiir Allen (Milwaukee, Wis.) burst into the lane and finished a layup. BSU responded, steadily growing its lead back up to seven points with 11:12 left in the game. Allen and graduate student Craig Steele (Portage, Wis.) then drained back-to-back three pointers to bring the Huskies within a point. Allen forced a steal on the ensuing defensive possession and St. Cloud State took a two-point after freshman Wyatt Hawks (White Bear Lake, Minn.) rolled to the basket after setting a screen and made a layup while getting fouled. Hawks completed the three-point play by making the free throw. The two teams would trade blows for the final 8:52 of the game. During the final 8:52, there were nine lead changes, and no team was able to hold a lead bigger than three points. With 1:27 remaining, senior Matt Willert (Buffalo, Minn.) was fouled and went to the free throw line with the Huskies in a two-point hole. Willert knotted the game up at 84, making both free throws. Bemidji State's John Sutherland made two free throws of his own as the Beavers took the lead right back with 1:08 remaining. Allen missed a jump shot on the Huskies offensive possession, but St. Cloud State was able to get a defensive stop of their own. They gained possession back with 22 seconds left, trailing by two points. Following a timeout, Morgan got the ball on the left wing with a chance to tie or take the lead. The Australian faced up, ripped through, and headed towards the baseline where he knocked down a left-handed floater over Sutherland to tie the game at 86 with 13 ticks on the clock. The Huskies, again in need of a defensive stop, forced a turnover with one second remaining and had a chance to win the game. Willert took a three pointer as he was falling away, which came up short as the clock expired and send the game into overtime.

Graduate student Luke Taylor (Germantown, Wis.) opened the overtime period by swishing a baseline jumper off an assist by Morgan. Allen jumped a pass to record his second steal of the game and drove the length of the floor, finishing a fastbreak layup that gave the Huskies a four-point lead. SCSU went scoreless from the field the rest of overtime but held the Beavers to six points. Dalton Albrecht of Bemidji State made a layup with 1:53 left in overtime to cut the Huskies lead down to one-point. St. Cloud State did not convert on their ensuing offensive possession and sent John Sutherland to the free throw line on the defensive end. Sutherland made the first free throw tying the game at 92 but missed the second, keeping the game tied. The defenses of both teams shined in the final 67 seconds as neither team scored, sending the game into a second overtime period.

BSU built up a four-point lead with 3:06 left in the second overtime period. St. Cloud State responded by going on a 5-0 to take a 100-99 lead converting on five of its eight free throw attempts. Albrecht made a layup for Bemidji State as they took a 101-100 lead with 72 seconds remaining. BSU's defense forced a miss on the next possession, however the Huskies then forced the Beavers into a shot clock violation to regain control of the ball with 13 seconds remaining. SCSU called a timeout and drew up a play for Allen to win the game. Allen began at the left wing and blew by his defender and finished the go-ahead bucket with seven seconds remaining. The Huskies held a 102-101 lead, and again needed a big-time defensive stop. BJ Davis of Bemidji State missed a fall-away jumper on the baseline, but Albrecht was on the weak-side and rose up for a putback layup at the buzzer to give Bemidji the 103-102 victory. Albrecht finished the game with 25 points and nine rebounds to break the hearts of the Huskies.

The Huskies bench scored 62 of the 102 points as Allen scored a career-high 23 points on 9-of-14 from the field and 3-of-4 from three. Allen scored 21 of his 23 points in the second half and came up clutch multiple times for the Huskies in his 36 minutes off the bench. Willert finished the game with 16 points in 31 minutes off the bench. Willert continues to stay hot for the Huskies as he has scored 15 or more points in each of the past four games. Hawks also posted a career-high 11 points and recorded four rebounds. Hawks has snatched four or more rebounds in four of the past five games. Sophomore Andre Renta (Hudson, Wis.) and Morgan each scored 10 points and grabbed four and five rebounds respectively.

SERIES HISTORY
St. Cloud State holds a 20-10 all-time record against the Peacocks but have lost the past four matchups including a 72-57 loss in last year's meeting. Upper Iowa held a 32-29 halftime lead but both teams struggled offensively as they each shot 30% from the field. A 12-3 run by St. Cloud State coming out of halftime flipped the lead and gave the Huskies a 41-35 lead with 14:58 left in the game. The two teams continued to battle as Upper Iowa tied the game at 51. The Peacocks heated up for the remainder of the game, finishing the game on a 21-6 run to come away with the victory. Upper Iowa shot 53% from the field and 62% from three-point range in the second half as they outscored the Huskies 40-28 on their way to a 15-point victory. Matt Willert nearly recorded a double-double, posting a team-high 12 points and nine rebounds. Andre Renta had a solid outing in his 26 minutes off the bench scoring eight points and grabbing six rebounds. The Huskies were ice cold all game shooting 31% from the field and 16% from three.

SCOUTING UPPER IOWA
Upper Iowa comes into this matchup with a record of 5-4 and are in the midst of a two-game winning streak. In the GLVC, Upper Iowa commands a high-powered offense, scoring a conference leading 89.4 points per game. The Peacocks have two of the top three scorers in the conference in Jake Hilmer and Noah King. Hilmer possesses a flamethrower for Upper Iowa, scoring 25 points per game on 48.7% from the field. Hilmer also leads the team in assists with 4.2 per game and steals with 1.3 per game. King is slightly behind Hilmer, averaging 19.3 points per game on 49.3% from the field. King also averages 4.1 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game. The star-studded backcourt of the Peacocks has been on a tear in the past five games as Hilmer has scored 19+ points in four of the five games including a 37-point bombardment against Concordia-St. Paul. In UIU's last game against Truman State, Hilmer became the third Peacock to eclipse 2,000 career points. King on the other hand has scored 21+ points in each of the past five games including a 27-point output against Southwest Minnesota State.

Hilmer was named GLVC Player of the Week in the opening week of the season after averaging 34.4 points per game on 49% from the field. Last season, Hilmer was the first UIU player to be named NSIC South Player of the Year and was also named to All-NSIC First Team.

Despite the high-powered offensive attack, the Peacocks rank towards the bottom in the GLVC in most defensive categories. Upper Iowa gives up a conference high 85.4 points per game, allows opponents to shoot 48.4% from the field, which is the second highest mark in the conference, and allow opponents to shoot 38.9% from three which is the third highest mark in the conference.

In last year's matchup, Hilmer scored 17 points on 5-of-13 shooting and grabbed four rebounds. Hilmer also capitalized on all five of his free throw attempts. At the charity stripe, Hilmer shoots career 87.4% for his career. Nick Reid nearly posted a double-double for Upper Iowa with 14 points and eight rebounds. Reid is another strong contributor for the Peacocks this season, averaging 12.1 points and team-high 6.6 rebounds per game. Reid was named to the All-NSIC Second Team a season ago.

Brooks McKowen is in his 11^th season at the helm of Upper Iowa. McKowen has led the Peacocks to 17 or more wins in seven of his 11 seasons and has put together nine winning seasons. McKowen holds a 166-129 record during his tenure with 16 of those wins coming last season.

1,000-POINTS (& COUNTING)
St. Cloud State senior Matt Willert (Buffalo, Minn.) became the 46^th member of the St. Cloud State Men's Basketball 1,000-point club in Tuesday's 68-61 win at UMary. Willert scored a game-high 16 points, including six points after he reached 1,000. He ended the night with 1,006 career points, moving him up to No. 45 on the all-time scoring list. He moved up to No. 42 on the all-time scoring list after Saturday's game with 1,022 career points. Willert has played in 84 games (2,327 minutes) over the past four seasons for the Huskies. He averages 12.2 points per game for his career on 339-of-796 (42.6%) shooting from the field, 161-471 (34.2%) from three and 183-212 (86.3%) from the free throw line.

SHINING STAR
St. Cloud State freshman Lucas Morgan (Sydney, Australia) was named to the NSIC Men's Basketball Shining 5 by the league office on Nov. 11 for his efforts in his first two collegiate games. He averaged 17.5 points and 8.5 rebounds in just 24.5 minutes per game during the 2-0 weekend for the Huskies in Kansas City. He shot 68.4% (13-of-19) from the field and 57.1% (4-of-7) from behind the three-point line over the weekend. In his collegiate debut on Friday, he erupted for 25 points and grabbed six rebounds in an 80-73 win over Pittsburg State. In just his second collegiate game ever, he recorded his first career double-double (10 points and 11 rebounds) in a 74-64 win over Henderson State.

For all the latest on St. Cloud State Men's Basketball, stay tuned to SCSUHuskies.com and follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.