Strong Defense Leads Tartans to 72-56 Win at Rochester

(ROCHESTER, N.Y.) – The Carnegie Mellon University men's basketball team finished the first half of the University Athletic Association (UAA) schedule with a 72-56 victory at the University of Rochester on Sunday afternoon. The Tartans are now 11-7 overall and 2-5 in UAA play. The Yellowjackets move to 6-12, 0-7.

Game Information
Carnegie Mellon 72, Rochester 56
Records: Carnegie Mellon (11-7, 2-5), Rochester (6-12, 0-7)
Location: Rochester, N.Y. (Louis Alexander Palestra)

How it Happened

• Carnegie Mellon opened the game on a 9-2 run over the first four minutes after the Yellowjackets missed seven of their first eight shots from the field.
• The Tartans lead built to 23-7 following a triple by junior Justin Allen at the 11:46 mark of the first half.
• Over the next six minutes, the Tartans were held scoreless, but Rochester managed just three points to make the score 23-10 before a layup by sophomore Dylan Bronner that ended the Cardinal and Gray scoring drought.
• A triple by sophomore Sam Andreottola gave the Tartans their largest lead of the half at 32-14 before they took a 34-19 advantage into the locker room.
• The Yellowjackets came out of the break and scored the first eight points to cut the deficit to 34-27 with 17:33 to play.
• With 7:25 to play, Rochester narrowed the Tartans lead to 56-51, but the Tartans scored seven straight points, including five from senior Aidan Murphy, over the next 1:34 and expanded the lead to 63-51.
• The Tartans run ballooned to 16-3 and the Tartans led 72-54 with two minutes left in the contest.

Tartan Stats

• The Tartans shot 43.1% from the field (25-58), 35.3% from behind the arc (6-17) and 72.7% from free throws (16-22).
• Allen led the offense with 29 points. He also hauled down seven rebounds and collected two steals.
• Junior Buckley DeJardin scored 12 points with Murphy finishing with 10.
• Senior Nolan Casey led the defense with 10 rebounds. He also scored nine points and handed out four assists.
• Graduate student R.J. Holmes finished with eight rebounds.
• Freshman Alex Hassanein recorded a career-high three steals and tied a career-high with three assists.

Yellowjacket Stats

• The Yellowjackets shot 29.5% from the field (18-61), 27.6% from behind the arc (8-29), and 63.2% from free throws (12-19).
• Corvin Oprea led the Yellowjackets with 19 points.

Game Notes

• Carnegie Mellon is now 9-0 this season when holding its opponents to 75 points or less.
• Allen currently ranks fourth all-time in program history with 1,328 points and needs 29 points to move into third.
• Holmes recorded his 800th career rebound becoming the fifth Tartan in program to record 800 or more. He now has 803 rebounds for his career.

Up Next

• Carnegie Mellon will host Emory University on Friday, February 7 with a tip at 5:30 p.m.