This past UAA weekend the Maroons split even. Playing at home, the South Siders took on the Case Western Reserve Spartans on Friday night. It was an exciting game from start to finish with great offensive and defensive efforts from both teams. However, the Maroons outstanding shooting gave them an advantage to put them ahead. Second-year, shooting guard Noah Karras was able to put up 11 threes for a new school record and totaled a whopping 39 points. Karras said, “Getting this win and breaking the school record was a pretty amazing feeling. That was the best I've felt shooting. I thought everything was going in. It's a great accomplishment and I hope that the rest of my career here is filled with many more accomplishments for both me and the team!” The Maroons finished strong with a 99–73 win over the Spartans.
Their game on Sunday was less successful however as they fell to the Carnegie Mellon Tartans once again in a tough battle. This game was a bit of a better showing for the Maroons, against Carnegie, compared to their previous loss ending with a score 85–83 in overtime. It was a very positive display of shooting once again for the Maroons with five players scoring 10 or more points. However, in the end, the difference came in that the Tartans sank 52.6 percent of their shots behind the 3-point line whereas the Maroons could only muster up 23.5 percent.
This coming weekend the Maroons are set to play Rochester and Emory at home in what will be their final home games of the season. The South Siders will play the Rochester YellowJackets on Friday night while playing the Emory Eagles on Sunday. Karras was really optimistic about his team’s chances despite the fact that the Maroons lost to both these teams in the past when he said, “I have a lot of confidence in us. we’re a different team than what we were at the beginning of the season. We’ve improved a lot and I think we have a lot more confidence in certain players coming off the bench than we did before.”
The Maroons will once again look to rely on their impressive shooting that has come through for them throughout the season. The South Siders average 83.1 points per game and morale will be high after good scoring performances last week. However, Chicago will have to be wary of the opposition that faces them. Rochester has won six games on the bounce by an average of 26 points. Guards Mack Montague and Sam Borst-Smith average 16.5 points per game, while Borst-Smith ranks fifth in the nation with three steals per game. So, the YellowJackets are sound on both ends of the court and this is something the Maroons will have to take into account. Emory, on the other hand, has lost its past two games but have to be wary of forward Adam Gigax who averages 19.6 points per game and guard Whit Rapp who ranks third in the country in assists.
The Maroons tip off against the YellowJackets at 8 PM on Friday while they play Emory at noon on Sunday. Both matches will take place at the Ratner Athletics Center.
