The New York University men's basketball team suffered an 85-80 defeat to Carnegie Mellon University on Friday night, January 29, at the Jerome S. Coles Sports Center in Manhattan.
The Violets (13-3, 3-3 University Athletic Association) controlled the majority of the contest against the Tartans (8-9, 1-5 UAA) and led by as many as 14 points midway through the first half. But, thanks to a 15-2 run to close out the half, Carnegie Mellon took the momentum and the 39-37 lead into the break.
"In the first half we were getting stops. We had our transition game going and we were moving the ball well," said NYU Assistant Coach
Taylor Roth. "But, while we were playing well on the offensive end, we didn't quite keep the energy on the other end."
NYU began the second half quickly and jumped back out to an 11-point lead, 61-50, with 12:01 remaining. From that point on, though, it was all Tartans as the visitors outscored the Violets 35-19 for the remainder of the contest.
"Down the stretch we needed to get some stops defensively," continued Roth. "We weren't able to do that and they got what they wanted offensively."
A highlight of the game for NYU came when
Costis Gontikas, the team's 6-foot-9 senior center from Athens, Greece, became the 31st member of the Violets' 1,000 career-points club. With 6:08 remaining in the second half, he took a feed inside from
Patrick Burns and converted the basket for two points to move to 1,001 points all-time. He finished the night with 15 points and now has 1,006 for his career. Immediately after his basket, Gontikas ran the floor and blocked a CMU shot, which led to a transition layup for his running mate
Evan Kupferberg.
HIGHLIGHTS: - Kupferberg finished with 17 points and a game-best 16 rebounds to tie his season high. The senior forward also blocked three shots and notched two steals.
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Ross Udine led NYU with 22 points. The sophomore point guard also dished out a game-best four assists.
- Gontikas added eight rebounds.
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Joe Timmes was the fourth Violet in double figures. The junior guard chipped in 10 points, including three three-point baskets.
- Thomas Cook (26 points) and Chris Shkil (19 points, 11 rebounds) led Carnegie Mellon.
"It was not a situation where we didn't play well," said Roth. "They're just a pretty good team and they got us. That's the way it goes in the UAA."
The Violets will return to action when they host Case Western Reserve University on Sunday afternoon, January 31, at Coles. Tipoff is scheduled for 12:00 pm.
