Cooper reaches 1,000-point plateau in men's basketball 78-51 loss to Rochester

WALTHAM, Mass.  –  Brandeis University junior Jordan Cooper (Weston, Fla./Sagemont School) became the school's 32^nd all-time 1,000-point scorer this afternoon in the Judges' 78-51 loss at the hands of fifth-ranked University of Rochester. The defeat drops the Judges to 7-12, 3-6 in the University Athletic Association, while UR improves to 19-1 overall, 8-1 UAA.

COOPER'S MILESTONE

• Cooper entered the weekend needing 46 points to reach the 1,000-point plateau.
• After scoring 28 last night in a win over Emory, he finished today with another 19.
• He shot 5-for-12 from the field today with a 3-pointer and added 8-for-10 from the line. He sunk a pair of free throws with 26.3 seconds left in regulation for points number 1,000 and 1,001.
• In addition to becoming the Judges' 32^nd 1,000-point scorer, Cooper is just the 13^th Brandeis player to reach the milestone before the end of his third season.
• He is Brandeis's first 1,000-point scorer since Ben Bartoldus '14 and the first to do as a junior since Bryan Lambert '05.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• In the game, Rochester never trailed, jumping out to a 14-2 lead after 5:25. Mack Montague had six points during the opening salvo.
• Cooper answered with a trifecta out of a timeout, one of three in a row for the Judges, but the hosts were only able to cut the lead to eight on rookie Eric D'Aguanno's (Saunderstown, R.I./St. Andrew's School) 3-ball at the 11:04 mark that made it 19-11.
• UR went on another extended run after that, outscoring Brandeis 27-8 over the remainder of the half to take a 46-19 lead at the break.
• The Yellowjackets outshot Brandeis, 59% (17-29) to 28% (7-25), and hit eight 3-pointers in the first half, one more than the Judges' overall field goal total. Rochester also controlled the boards, 21-10.
• Brandeis played the visitors even in the second half at 32-32, with both squads shooting 39% and a slight 19-18 rebounding edge for Rochester.
• The closest the Judges would get was 20 points at the 11:07 mark on a Cooper lay-up on an assist by senior Robinson Vilmont (Cambridge, Mass./Wilbraham and Monson Acad.).

FOR BRANDEIS

• Cooper's game-high 19 points was Brandeis's only double-digit scoring performance. He also tied for the team high with five rebounds.
• Vilmont added eight points, five boards and a game-high six assists.
• Senior Jack Fay (New Rochelle, N.Y./Suffield Acad.) added nine points for the Judges.

SUPER BOWL SUNDAY

• Brandeis falls to 4-4 on Super Bowl Sunday when the Patriots are also playing. The teams have had opposite results each of the last four times it has happened.

FOR ROCHESTER

• Zack Ayers matched Cooper with 19 points, hitting 7-of-11 overall, 2-of-5 from downtown and 3-of-3 from the line.
• Montague added 17 points on 7-of-15 with three 3-pointers, while the team's leading scorer, senior Sam Borst-Smith was held to 10 points, but did add five helpers.
• Tucker Knox finished with eight points and a game-high eight rebounds for the Yellowjackets.

UP NEXT

• Brandeis continues UAA play at Carnegie Mellon next Friday night at 8 p.m.