Despite going into Friday’s home contest against conference foe Emory riding a 13-game winning streak, the No. 11 Maroons dropped both games this weekend to bring their record to 14–4 overall and 5–2 in the UAA.
The South Siders fell to Emory on Friday 69–63 in their first loss since November 21. The
Eagles’ victory put them tied with Chicago at the top of the UAA standings at the end of Friday
night. The visiting squad was led by fourth-year Will Trawick’s dominant performance. The
forward scored his team’s first 12 points, with 19 of his 25 points coming in the first half.
Chicago struggled from deep all night, missing 16 of its first 19 three point attempts, ending the night with an underwhelming 24 percent behind the arc. The squad’s performance inside the arc was better, however, as a series of hard drives to the basket by third-years Waller Perez and Tyler Howard tied the game at 57–57 with minutes left. Strong free throw shooting in the last 30 seconds, however, clenched the victory for the Eagles.
Although the Maroons trailed throughout the entire game, and by as many as nine points in the second half, the squad still saw some impressive performances. Forward Perez netted 14 points for the South Siders, while fourth-year Alex Voss pulled down an impressive 10 rebounds. Point guard Howard dished out four assists and scored 13 of his own.
Despite hopes of redemption, the squad dropped its second game of the weekend to Rochester on Sunday morning 84–76. While the Maroons were able to decrease the deficit in the final minutes, they trailed by double digits for the majority of the game.
Howard attributed the loss to the way Chicago started the game. “We put ourselves in a tough position by going down early and having to fight our way back in both games,” he said. Second-year Collin Barthel echoed these sentiments. “We needed to start the game with a lot more intensity and that will be a major focus this week,” he said.
This weekend marked the halfway point of UAA play. While Chicago led the standing going into the weekend, Emory’s back-to-back victories this weekend against Chicago and Wash U puts the Eagles at the top of the league with a 6–1 record. Chicago and Rochester stand tied for second place at 5–2.
Interestingly, the schedule will flip and Chicago will have a second chance at both Emory and Rochester this weekend on the road, and the Maroons have revenge on the brain. “We’re looking forward to playing the same teams that just beat us and getting wins at their home court,” said Howard.
Beyond avenging the losses, this weekend has implications beyond wins and losses. “We got a
tad bit complacent and it showed this weekend, but getting two wins coming up will put us right
back where we want to be,” Barthel said. “It’s a huge weekend and we need to make a statement that this past weekend was just a speed bump.”
The Maroons will tip off against Emory on Friday at 8 p.m. and then travel to New York to play Rochester at 11 a.m. on Sunday. The weekend has the potential to determine who will come out on top of the UAA.
