New York University's fourth-ranked men's basketball team fell 82-77 to Carnegie Mellon University on Sunday in Pittsburgh, PA.

The Violets dropped to 11-3 on the season and 1-2 in the University Athletic Association (UAA). It was a closely-contested game throughout and, despite NYU holding a 39-36 halftime edge and leading for 24:27 of the contest, CMU eked out a narrow win.

NYU had a strong first half, forcing seven Tartan turnovers while committing just two and shooting 14-of-31 from the field and 6-of-15 from distance. Michael Savarino (13) and Zay Freeney (10) combined for 23 points in the opening period as the Violets maintained their three-point advantage at the break.

Back-and-forth play continued in a second half that featured five ties and nine lead changes. The final minutes were neck-and-neck as a pair of Emmanuel Onuama free-throws tied the score 69-69 with 3:51 on the clock.

Then, back-to-back second-chance layups for the Tartans gave them a four-point edge. Soon after, however, Freeney buried a trey to bring the Violets back within one (75-74) with 48 seconds remaining.

Carnegie Mellon once again went ahead by four, and Freeney again hit a triple to make it a one-point game (78-77) with five seconds to go. But, the Tartans hit all four of their free-throws in the final seconds and NYU committed a turnover on its last possession to confirm the result.

Freeney totaled 27 points, six rebounds, three assists and a steal. Savarino ended with 15 points, four boards and an assist as NYU's only other double-digit scorer.

Quinn Clark chipped in nine points, Spencer Freedman had eight and Hampton Sanders finished with seven.

The Violets return home to Manhattan's John A. Paulson Center on Friday, January 19, against Washington University in St. Louis for another UAA showdown at 7:30pm.