Judges can't sustain hot start in 82-74 loss to Chicago

WALTHAM, Mass.  – The Brandeis University men's basketball team came out on fire, hitting 7 of their first 8 shots and 10-of-13 en route to 64 percent first-half shooting, but the Judges couldn't sustain their success as they dropped an 82-74 decision to the University of Chicago in Red Auerbach Arena tonight. With the loss, the Judges fall to 7-15 overall, 3-9 in the University Athletic Association, while the Maroons improve to 14-9, 6-6 UAA.

FOR THE JUDGES

• Brandeis had three players score in double figures in the loss.
• Junior Jordan Cooper (Weston, Fla./Sagemont School) led the hosts with 23 points, scoring 9-of-14 from the field, 1-of-4 from deep and 4-of-4 from the line.
• Cooper also had a team-high seven rebounds.
• Rookie Eric D'Aguanno (Saunderstown, R.I./St. Andrews School) was on fire in the second half, scoring 14 of his 17 points in 11 of his 18 minutes. He connected on 6-of-9 overall, including 5-of-8 from downtown.
• Senior guard Robinson Vilmont (Cambridge, Mass./Wilbraham and Monson Acad.) added 13 points and a team-high six assists.
• Junior Latye Workman (Brooklyn, N.Y./Bedford, Acad.) had six rebounds and a career-high five assists in his first start of the season.

FOR THE MAROONS

• Chicago counted with four players in double digits in scoring.
• Sophomore Noah Karras was even hotter than D'Aguanno from outside, scoring a game-high 25 points on 7-off-11 from beyond the arc and 9-of-14 overall.
• Senior Blaine Crawford hit 9-of-11 from the floor and 4-of-6 from the line for 22 points – 14 in the first half. He also grabbed a game-high eight rebounds.
• Junior Colin Barthel and senior Waller Perez each added 12 points to the UC cause.
• Jordan Baum led all players with seven assists off the bench, while Tyler Howard had four assists and five steals.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Both teams shot better than 50 percent from the floor for the game – 52.6% for Chicago (30-57) and 52.0% for Brandeis (26-50).
• Brandeis connected on 63.6% in the first half (14-22) but just 42.9% in the second (12-28).
• UC meanwhile hit 48.3% in the first (14-29) and improve to 57.1% in the second (16-28).
• Chicago owned a 30-26 rebounding edge and forced 18 Brandeis turnovers while committing just 12.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Brandeis opened the game on first, hitting seven of their first eight from the field, but the Judges couldn't open up an early lead, as Cooper's bucket that made it 13-10 less than five minutes in was answered by a Barthel 3-pointer.
• Chicago took a 16-15 lead at the 13:22 mark when Crawford hit 1-of-2 from the line.
• Brandeis went on a 12-2 run over the next four minutes, with Cooper contributing five points, senior Samuel Dowden (Andover, Mass./Andover) adding a traditional three-point play and D'Aguanno connecting from deep with 8:58 to go to give the Judges a 28-18 lead.
• Crawford threw down a dunk on the next UC possession, and after a couple of stops, Howard hit a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to five.
• Brandeis answered from beyond the arc and looked to maintain momentum after two Tim Reale (Mason, Ohio/St. Andrews, R.I., School) foul shots made it 37-31 with just under three minutes to go in the first.
• Chicago rallied with the last seven points of the stanza, however, Karras hit two 3-pointers in the final minute, including a buzzer-beater that gave UC a 38-37 lead at the break.
•  The game stayed within one possession for the first four minutes of the second half, with a Cooper three-point play at 15:54 tying the score at 44-all.
• At that point, Crawford and Karras scored the game's next 11 points – a Crawford put-back and three-straight Karras trifectas – that gave the visitors the lead for good, 55-44, just three minutes later.
• The Chicago lead reached 13 when Brandeis mounted a comeback as D'Aguanno caught fire, hitting three straight from beyond the arc himself to cut the deficit to 59-55 with 8:26 to go.
• After Reale hit 1-of-2 from the line to make it a one-possession game, Crawford gave Chicago some breathing room with two of his own from the charity stripe.
• Karras struck again with the next five points, expanding the lead back to 10 with just under seven minutes remaining at 66-56.
• The Judges would get within five on a Vilmont 3-pointer with under two minutes to go, but it wasn't enough.

UP NEXT

• Brandeis will meet UAA leader and 7^th-ranked Washington University on Sunday at noon for their Senior Day game.