Men’s Basketball Upsets #12 Washington University

(PITTSBURGH, Pa.) - The Carnegie Mellon University men's basketball team had three players score in double figures as the Tartans upset the 12th-ranked Bears of Washington University 72-59 on the hardwood of Skibo Gymnasium Friday, February 6. The University Athletic Association (UAA) victory improves the Tartans record to 11-8, 2-6 while Washington is now 15-4, 4-4.
    
At the 13-minute mark of the first half Carnegie Mellon grabbed a 10-8 lead following a triple by sophomore Jack Serbin (New Albany, Ohio).  Little did the Tartans know that would be the last lead change of the contest.  Serbin's trey ignited a 17-6 run by the Tartans, who eventually took a 30-22 lead into the break.

The Tartans led by as many as 10 points on three different occasions in the first frame and were led by nine first-half points by sophomore Chris Shkil (Mentor, Ohio/Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin).  

Serbin started the second half draining back-to-back three-point buckets to extend the Tartans' lead to 36-22 a minute in.  Washington's Luke Silverman-Lloyd answered with a long ball of his own, but Serbin struck again as he nailed his fourth triple of the game on the Tartans' ensuing possession.  The sophomore's bucket started a run of 10 straight for the Tartans which resulted in their largest lead of the contest, 46-25, with 14:58 to play.

With the Tartans leading 54-37 at the midway point of the second half, the Bears used an 11-4 run to cut the deficit to 58-48 with 7:05 to play. That was as close as the visitor's reached, as senior Seth Cordts (Amherst, N.H./Souhegan) connected on two of his 14 foul shots and Shkil converted a layup on the Tartans' next two possessions to extend the lead to 62-48.  

After shooting 32.3% from the floor in the first half, Carnegie Mellon finished the game shooting 41.4% by converting 51.9% of its shots in the second. Washington ended the game shooting 38.2%.  Carnegie Mellon shot 94.7% (18-19) from the foul line. The last time Carnegie Mellon shot better from the stripe was November 23, 2002 when the Tartans were 19-20 for 95.0% against Grove City.

Cordts led the Tartans with a game-high 22 points after turning in a perfect night at the charity stripe converting all 14 attempts.  Serbin finished the game with 21 points and 12 rebounds to record his 11th double-double of the season and fourth in the last five games.  Shkil poured in a career-high 17 points and recorded a game-high four blocks.

Washington was led by Nick Burt's 12 points while Mitch Styczynski and David Fatoki each chipped in with 10 points.   

Carnegie Mellon will continue UAA play on Sunday, February 8 when they entertain the University of Chicago.  Tip is slated for 12:00 p.m.