Howarth Tabs Career-High in Tartans Setback in Windy City

(CHICAGO, Ill.) – The Carnegie Mellon University men's basketball team traveled to the Windy City on Sunday for an afternoon University Athletic Association (UAA) tilt against the University of Chicago. The Cardinal and Gray dropped a 100-84 contest and are now 8-10 and 3-4 in UAA play, as the Maroons move to 12-6 and 5-2.

Carnegie Mellon shot 53.7% from the floor and Chicago finished shooting 50.6%, but the Maroons connected on 13-of-30 from behind the arc to the Tartans 6-of-16. Four Tartans scored in double figures with junior Zach Howarth (Freehold, N.J./St. John Vianney) scoring a career-high 29 points to lead Carnegie Mellon. Howarth was 9-of-14 from the floor and 8-of-9 from the charity stripe.

Senior Seth Henry (Fulton, Md./Reservoir) finished with 15 points while sophomore Ethan Miller (King of Prussia, Pa./Upper Merion) and junior Trent Suddeth (Winter Park, Fla./Trinity Prep) ended with 11 and 10 points, respectively. Junior Colin McNeil (Ringoes, N.J./Hunterdon Central Regional) handed out six assists in the loss.

Noah Karras led Chicago in scoring with 23 points after converting 4-of-6 from long range. Dominic Laravie scored 22 for the Maroons, Cole Schmitz had 16 and Justin Jackson finished with 11.

Chicago started the game on a 15-2 run over the first five minutes of play. The Tartans used a 12-1 run over a three-minute span to cut the deficit to 21-16 with 10:24 to play in the first half. During the run, Howarth accounted for eight points. The Maroons answered with a 10-2 run that started three minutes later to push their lead back to double figures at 42-26 with just over five minutes on the clock.

The home team then took a 53-41 advantage into the locker room with Karras leading all scorers at the break with 20 points after converting 8-of-12 from the floor including 3-of-5 from behind the arc. Howarth led the Tartans after the first twenty minutes of play with 16 points, as he made 5-of-8 from the floor and was perfect at the line making all five of his attempts.

The Tartans used a 7-0 early in the first half to cut the deficit to 53-48 with 17:57 on the clock. Chicago pushed the lead back to double figures by way of a 19-5 run that spanned six minutes and gave the home team a 79-59 at the 10:22 mark of the second half.

Carnegie Mellon didn't go away, scoring the next 12 points to make the score 79-71 with 6:49 to play. Over the next three minutes Chicago scored nine straight points and once again pushed its lead to double figures at 88-71. The home team continued to hold its lead and went on for the 100-84 victory.

Carnegie Mellon will return to action on Friday, February 1 with an 8:00 p.m. contest against Washington University in St. Louis on the hardwood of Skibo Gymnasium.