Tartans Drop Final UAA Road Contest to #16 WASHU

(ST. LOUIS, Mo.) - The Carnegie Mellon University men's basketball team concluded its away University Athletic Association (UAA) schedule on Sunday at 16th-ranked Washington University in St. Louis and dropped a 99-68 contest. Carnegie Mellon is now 10-12 overall and 3-8 in UAA play while WASHU improves to 18-4 and 9-2.

Carnegie Mellon ended the game shooting 44.4% from the field to the Bears 55.7%. Senior Zach Howarth (Freehold, N.J./St. John Vianney) led the Tartans with 14 points and now ranks eighth all-time in Tartan history with 1,210 career points, while senior Colin McNeil (Ringoes, N.J./Hunterdon Central Regional) finished with 12 points and handed out six assists. McNeil now needs seven assists to become the program's all-time leader. Senior Trent Suddeth (Winter Park, Fla./Trinity Prep) led the Tartans with a game-high nine rebounds.

DeVaughn Rucker and Justin Hardy led five Bears in double figures with 17 apiece. Jack Nolan ended with 15 points while Kameron Mack and Payden Webb scored 12 and 11 points, respectively.

The Bears started the game scoring eight straight points as a result of five Tartan mishaps. The Tartans then used a mini 9-4 run to cut the deficit to 12-9 with 14 minutes to play in the first half following a layup by junior Joey Krempa (Linden, N.J.). With seven minutes showing on the clock, Carnegie Mellon made it a one-point contest with a Howarth layup which put the score at 29-28. The Tartans were then held without a field goal over the next six-and-a-half minutes, as WASHU closed the half on a 16-4 run and led 45-32 at the break. The Cardinal and Gray's lone field goal in the last seven minutes came on a floater by junior Zach Watson (Dublin, Ohio/Jerome) with 34 seconds on the clock.

The Bears won the shooting percentage battle in the first half, shooting 52.9% (18-34) while the Tartans shot 48.0% (12-25).

WASHU opened the second half on a 10-2 run and pushed its lead to 55-34. The Bears again put together another 10-2 run later in the half and led 65-40 with 13:33 to play. The Bears continued to maintain control before winning 99-68.

Carnegie Mellon returns home on Friday, February 21 with an 8:00 p.m. tip against ninth-ranked Emory University.