NEW YORK, NY – The University of Rochester men's basketball hit the road for the first time in University Athletic Association (UAA) play on Friday evening, and despite an eight-point halftime lead, fell to the New York University (NYU) Violets, 66-54, inside the John A. Paulson Center.
 
The loss drops the Yellowjackets to 7-6 (0-2 UAA) on the year, while the Violets move to 10-3 (1-1 UAA) with their first conference victory.
 
URochester and NYU opened the contest with back-to-back triples, as Bryan Moussako got the Violets on the scoreboard first, while Justin Odido answered on the other end to knot the score at three early in the first.
 
Things would stay close for much of the period, with neither side holding more than a four-point advantage till late in the first half. Rochester took its first lead of the night on a pair of free throws by Jordan Owusu just past the 15-minute mark, while Owusu's dunk just over a minute later made it a 9-7 Yellowjacket lead with 13:35 remaining in the first half.
 
Then, after Luke Kolaja cashed a three, Corvin Oprea helped Rochester retake the lead with a jumper, while Darius Gakwasi and Oprea traded threes with just over 11 minutes left in the first.
 
Another Oprea triple put URochester up two, 20-18, with 7:43 until the halftime buzzer, before a quick 6-0 run gave the Violets their first lead since Moussako's three-pointer. Kolaja's layup with just shy of the four-minute mark gave NYU a 24-20 lead, but that'd be the Violets' last field goal of the half.
 
Rochester would close the first half on a 12-0 run, holding the Violets scoreless for more than four minutes as the 'Jackets shot 5-for-5 from the field over the final 4:02 of the first to take an eight-point lead at the halftime break.
 
Owusu answered Kolaja's layup with another bucket to make it a two-point game, while John Mayhew drained another triple, one of six first-half makes for UR, to give the 'Jackets the lead.
 
Tomiwa Adetosoye then forced a steal and slammed home a dunk to give Rochester a three-point lead, 27-24, and force the Violets to take a timeout, while five more points from Theo Murray's triple and a layup from Mayhew sent the 'Jackets into the locker room on a 12-0 run, leading 32-24.
 
However, the Violets would quickly flip the script to start the second, holding the Yellowjackets scoreless for nearly six minutes as part of a 12-3 run. NYU retook the lead on back-to-back threes from Moussako and Gakwasi, 34-32 with 15:30 remaining.
 
Odibo finally got Rochester on the scoreboard just over five-and-a-half minutes into the second half, knocking down one of four made threes to put URochester back up one. However, the Violets kept on rolling, shooting 52.0 percent and 70.0 percent (7-for-10) from beyond the arc in a second half that saw NYU outscore Rochester, 42-22.
 
Darren Rubin and Murray traded triples just past the 12-minute mark, briefly giving Rochester a 40-39 advantage, but that'd be UR's last lead the rest of the way. A 6-0 run over the next 1:41 extended NYU's lead to five, and though Adetosoye canned another three, one of 10 URochester hit on the night, Kolaja knocked down one of his two makes from beyond the arc to again make it a five-point game with 6:40 left.
 
With just under five minutes to play, Odibo sank another three to again pull Rochester within two, but that'd be as close as Rochester would get the rest of the way. The Violets pulled ahead by seven on Moussako's trey with 4:32 left, taking advantage of one of 13 second-half turnovers for UR.
 
Two free throws from Carnegie Johnson gave the Violets their first double-digit lead of the night, 60-50, with 1:22 left, while the NYU hit their free throws down the stretch to prevent any threat of a comeback, finishing off the 66-54 victory, fueled by a 42-point second half.
 
Odibo led Rochester with 12 points, one of three 'Jackets in double figures. Oprea notched a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds, while Owusu added 10 points and five boards.
 
For NYU, Johnson led five Violets in double figures with 15 points.
 
As a team, Rochester shot 32.8 percent from the field, and just 24.1 percent after shooting 41.4 percent in the first half. NYU connected on 39.7 percent of their attempts and shot 52.0 percent in the second half.
 
The Yellowjackets will wrap up their weekend in Waltham, MA, with another UAA matchup against Brandeis on Sunday, Jan. 18, at 2:00 p.m.