Skip to navigation Skip to content Skip to footer

NYU Men's Basketball Bests Rochester 78-58

NYU Men's Basketball Bests Rochester 78-58

From NYU Athletics

The New York University men's basketball team earned its second University Athletic Association (UAA) victory of the season on Sunday afternoon, January 26, defeating the University of Rochester 78-58 at the Coles Sports Center in Manhattan.

"After you lose a couple of games in a row you need to search and find what it takes to get a win," said Head Coach Joe Nesci. "Today was a big win, but every win is a big win. After losing a few in a row, it feels that much better."

The Violets (12-4, 2-3 UAA) were once again led by sophomore standout forward Evan Kupferberg, who poured in a team-high 20 points along with a game-high 15 rebounds for his seventh double-double of the season.

NYU held the lead for the majority of the contest and allowed the Yellowjackets (7-9, 1-4 UAA) to have no more than a one point lead. In addition, the Violets outworked Rochester on the boards (46-32) and dominated in the paint (52-18) all afternoon.

"I thought our rebounding started to wear them down," said Nesci. "Then we got second opportunities and made the most of them. Defensively, we were confident. We didn't give them too many open looks on the perimeter and we limited their inside game".

Three players scored in double-figures for the Violets.

HIGHLIGHTS:

- Sophomore center Costis Gontikas scored 17 points along with five rebounds. He also registered five dunks in the contest.

- Senior co-captain guard Ryan Tana chipped in 16 points to round out the double-figures scoring for NYU. He also registered six assists, four rebounds and three steals.

"Ryan just came up big and strong," said Nesci. "He was aggressive and very certain about what he wanted to do. He did a great job of leading, and his teammates followed suit."

- Freshman forward Alec Papesch had nine points and nine rebounds.