Mish, Polan Power Sharpshooting Men's Hoops Past Rochester, 86-72

John Mish produced half of his career-high 28 points during the decisive run.

John Mish scored a career-high 28 points and added 12 rebounds, highlighting the New York University men's basketball team's most prolific offensive performance of the season in Friday's 86-72 over University Athletic Association (UAA) rival the University of Rochester at the Louis Alexander Palestra in Rochester, NY.

Mish produced half of his points during a 23-10 run spanning both halves, while the Violets (14-7, 3-7 UAA) buried a season-best 11 three-pointers on 23 tries (47.8%) to snap a four-game losing streak.

Richie Polan added 19 points on a perfect 6-for-6 shooting (3-for-3 3FG), including four free throws in the final 1:13, as NYU shot 52.6% (30-for-57) overall. D.J. Glavan added 11 points, four boards and four assists.

"We didn't do anything different than we usually do," NYU head coach Joe Nesci said. "I thought our execution was good. We made open shots early and that gave us confidence. John hit some shots inside and that gave us more confidence."

Ultimately, NYU set the tone with a first half that proved to be its most efficient offensive stretch this season. Mish scored 18 of his points on 7-for-9 shooting, providing interior balance as NYU posted a season, first-half high in points en route to taking a 51-41 halftime lead.

Meanwile, five different players clicked from beyond the arc as the Violets went 7-for-12 (58.3%) on their three-point tries during the opening stanza. To put this in perspective, NYU had hit seven or more three pointers in only four of its previous 20 contests -- and had converted only 40.0% or better from long range three times.

NYU proceeded to score 12 of the first 18 points of the second period, with six coming from Mish, while seizing a 63-47 lead with 14:27 remaining. All told, the Violets reeled off a 23-10 run, with their senior captain tallying 14 of his points during the spurt.

"John had it going big time," Nesci said. "He was relentless."

Rochester pulled within 67-62 after a three-pointer by Mike Chmielowiec (game-high 30 points), but Zachary Kuba (6 points) connected from beyond the arc, Mish converted in the low post, then Polan tallied nine of NYU's final 14 points to ensure a successful start to its final road trip of the regular season.

Derek Becker added nine points and Chip Borsi buried two treys to account for his six tallies for NYU, which owned a 30-28 rebounding advantage and outpointed the Yellowjackets 36-28 in the paint. The Violets also hit 88.2% (15-for-17) of their free-throw attempts.

Nate Novosel had 11 points for Rochester, which shot 48.0% (24-for-50) overall and 46.7% (7-for-15) from outside the arc. The Yellowjackets shot 81.0 (17-for-21) from the charity stripe.

NYU will play its final UAA road contest Sunday, Feb. 15, when it travels to Pittsburgh to oppose #21 Carnegie Mellon University at noon.