CHICAGO – The University of Rochester men's basketball team had a lead at halftime over the 6th-ranked University of Chicago, but the Yellowjackets could not hold onto the lead, as the host Maroons posted a 72-63 victory in a University Athletic Association matchup at the Ratner Athletics Center on Friday evening.
The URochester loss drops the Yellowjackets to 9-8 overall on the season and 2-4 in the UAA. UChicago keeps its strong season going, improving to 15-2, 5-1 in the UAA.
Tomiwa Adetosoye finished as the games leading scorer with 22 points, making 8-of-17 field goals. He added 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals.
Corvin Oprea added 14 points and a UR-high five rebounds while
John Mayhew chipped in 11 points.
UChicago saw three players finish in double-figure scoring, led by Shane Regan's 15 points. Nick Roper had 12 and Daniel Cochran had ten. The Maroons also held a monster advantage on the glass, outrebounding Rochester 50-23. Luke Smith grabbed 11 rebounds for UC, while Roper had nine and Cochran had seven.
It was a defensive battle for both squads in the first 20 minutes, with the Yellowjackets holding a three-point lead, sitting up 25-22.
URochester opened the scoring with a
Justin Odibo pull-up jump shot and led 7-3 after an early Adetosoye 3-pointer.
The host Maroons rattled off six straight points to edge ahead 9-7 after six minutes of play.
After 12 minutes in the opening half, Rochester led by two, but a 7-0 burst, including five points by L.J. Moore, gave the Maroons a five-point advantage, the biggest by either team in the first half.
The Yellowjackets closed out the final six minutes strong through, scoring 10 of the next 12 points to hold the three-point lead at the break. Both
Jordan Owusu and
Camden Fleming drained 3-pointers in the stretch run of the opening half to give the 'Jackets the lead.
After halftime though, it was a different story, especially for the Yellowjacket offense.
URochester was held without a field goal for the first seven minutes of the final period, leading to an 18-1 run that vaulted UChicago in front by 14 points.
Six Maroons scored in the run, where UChicago shot 7-of-9 from the field, while just an Oprea free throw was Rochester's only point from halftime to the 13-minute mark.
Mayhew finally registered URochester's first field goal of the second half with a layup, kicking off a 7-2 spurt, aided by an Odibo triple and Oprea layup to get the lead back down to single-digits.
The Maroons fended off that first rally attempt well, extending the margin back to 15 after an 8-2 run.
UChicago's lead reached as many as 19 points with under six minutes to play before the Yellowjackets ramped up the pressure defensively, trying to chip away.
Unfortunately for the visitors, the late-game defensive effort was not enough to rally, with the lead getting to as small as seven with under 30 seconds to go, eventually settling on the nine-point UChicago victory.
Rochester did end up forcing 16 Chicago turnover in the contest, with the Maroons entering the game committing just 9.0 per game, ranking second in Division III that category. UR meanwhile, held onto the ball on Friday, turning the ball over just five times.
Chicago's win edges the all-time series between the schools a bit closer, with URochester now holding a 39-37 advantage in 76 meetings. The two teams play again, this time in Rochester next week, on Friday, February 6. Before that, the 'Jackets travel to WashU on Sunday afternoon, with Chicago hosting top-ranked Emory in a highly-anticipated showdown at the same time.
