The University of Rochester men's basketball picked up its first University Athletic Association (UAA) win of the year, shooting 55.2 percent from the floor and knocking down 13 treys en route to a 96-82 win over the Carnegie Mellon University Tartans on Friday evening inside the Louis Alexander Palestra.
 
URochester came out firing from the get-go, knocking down a trio of triples in the first three minutes of the contest. John Mayhew got the 'Jackets on the scoreboard, answering Buckley DeJardin's triple with the 'Jackets' first three just shy of the 18-and-a-half-minute mark of the third, while Jordan Owusu sank his first three to give URochester the lead, 6-5, with 17:35 left in the first.
 
Owusu's three would be the first of 10-straight points for the Yellowjackets, as Rochester took the lead early on in the first half and never trailed the rest of the way. Justin Odibo's three just past the 17-minute mark pushed the lead to six, while two free throws from Corvin Oprea capped off the run and made it an eight-point game less than four minutes into the contest.
 
A 5-0 Tartan spurt over the next minute cut Rochester's lead down to three, but the 'Jackets would go back up eight, 21-13, behind back-to-back threes from Owusu and Odibo.
 
Another push from the Tartans brought Carnegie Mellon within a point, 21-20, as Evan Mirazimi hit a three and sank two free throws as part of a 7-0 run. But again, Rochester responded with another triple, this one from Theo Murray with 8:40 left in the first, pushing the lead back to four, 24-20.
 
Then, with Rochester up by just three with a little over five minutes left, Murray hit another triple, jumpstarting a 13-2 Rochester run. Murray's three doubled Rochester's lead to six, 33-27, with 5:18 to play in the first, and after a CMU turnover, Odibo sank a jumper to push the lead to eight.
 
Nikola Dimitrijevic's hook shot briefly slowed the run, but Owusu answered with another three, and after a pair of empty Tartan possessions, Tomiwa Adetosoye scored five-straight points, sinking a layup before completing a three-point play.
 
Adetosoye's first bucket gave Rochester its first double-digit lead of the night, while Oprea's first made three of the contest pushed the lead to 14, 46-32, with 1:14 left. However, two late triples by Sam Deusei, the second of which came at the buzzer, cut Rochester's lead down to 10, 48-38, at the halftime break.
 
The 'Jackets shot 56.7 percent in the opening period, and 60.0 percent (9-for-15) from three. And while Dimitrijevic got the Tartans started with a three-point play in the second, the Yellowjackets would stay hot, connecting on 15-of-28 attempts in the second half, with another four made threes.
 
Mayhew sank two free throws to get Rochester on the scoreboard in the second half, while Odibo's pull-up jumper once again gave URochester a double-digit lead.
 
DeJardin's layup cut it back down to nine, 54-45, with 17:20 left, but another Oprea triple squashed any Tartan momentum. The 'Jackets then stretched their lead to 14 with six of the next eight points, taking a 63-49 lead on Murray's jumper just past the 14-and-a-half-minute mark.
 
Down the stretch, Carnegie Mellon made one last push, cutting the deficit to eight, 76-68, with 8:07 left but the Yellowjackets answered with an 11-3 run over the next 2:38.
 
URochester forced four turnovers and held the Tartans to just 1-for-3 shooting over the two-and-a-half-minute stretch, extending their lead to 16 on an emphatic dunk by Bernard Dushie Jr.
 
Up eight, two free throws by Odibo again gave Rochester a double-digit lead. And after a miss by the Tartans, Odibo canned a three to make it 81-68 with 6:54 remaining. Adetosoye was fouled and made both free throws on Rochester's ensuing possession, while Dushie Jr. sank a layup before putting home the slam on Rochester's next possession, giving the 'Jackets an 87-71 lead.
 
Just shy of two minutes later, Adetosoye gave URochester its largest lead of the night, 92-74, with 2:49 to play, and a late dunk by Owusu put the capper on the Yellowjackets' 96-82 victory.
 
The win snaps the Yellowjackets' six-game losing streak and moves Rochester to 8-7 (1-3 UAA) on the year, while the Tartans drop to 10-5 (2-2 UAA) with the loss.
 
Five 'Jackets scored in double figures and every Yellowjacket that saw the court scored, led by Adetosoye, who nearly turned in a triple-double, leading UR with 19 points to go along with eight rebounds, nine assists, four steals and two blocks.
 
Adetosoye also shot 9-for-9 from the free-throw line, part of a 17-for-17 performance from the Yellowjackets that ties the school record for the best free-throw percentage in a single game in program history, minimum 10 made.
 
Odibo was Rochester's second-highest scorer with 17 points, while Oprea and Owusu each added 13 points, and Murray scored 12. Odibo, Oprea and Owusu each hit three triples, as the 'Jackets shot 13-for-26 from beyond the arc, their second-best three-point field-goal percentage this season.
 
For Carnegie Mellon, Dimitrijevic had a game-high 20 points and nine boards.
 
The Yellowjackets next host Case Western Reserve on Sunday, Jan. 25 at 2:00 p.m. inside the Louis Alexander Palestra.