From University of Chicago Athletics
The University of Chicago men's basketball team led from start to finish on Parents Day and finished a weekend sweep with a 95-80 home victory over Case Western Reserve University on Sunday.
The Maroons improved to 15-9 on the season and 8-5 in UAA play to stay in third place in the league. The Spartans fell to 13-11 overall and 5-8 against league competition and fifth place in the UAA.
Before tip-off, UChicago recognized the parents of the players and handed out flowers to those in attendance. The Maroons then opened the game on a 17-3 run to take command of the game early on the back of 73 percent shooting from the field and cold shooting from the Spartans. Case was only shooting 23 percent from the court midway through the first stanza. UChicago kept getting the ball inside, scoring 16 of its first 25 points in the paint despite an overall size disadvantage.
By converting their free throws, Case was able to prevent from falling farther behind. UChicago maintained its double-digit advantage deep in to the first half until Spartan junior guard Julien Person's three-pointer made it 28-19 Maroons with 6:46 left before half. Four-straight points by senior guard Wayne Simon ballooned the UChicago lead back to 13 before a 7-0 Case run reduced the lead to six with four minutes left in the first.
Junior guard Royce Muskeyvalley's back-to-back threes got the home team back on track as UChicago was able to go into the locker room on a 13-8 run. Muskeyvalley had a hand in 12 of those points, with eight points of his own and four from his two assists, as the Maroons led 45-34 at the break.
Senior guard Derrick Davis stole the ball and threw down a dunk to ignite the Maroons at the start of the second half. The hosts scored eight points in the first minute of the half to push the lead to 19. Case would scratch the lead down to 13, buoyed by six points from senior center David Thompson.
Case junior forward Dane McLoughlin was able to briefly reduce the Maroons lead to nine. But UChicago sophomore guard John Steinberg would answer with a three of his own to give the home team a 71-59 lead with 8:52 remaining in the game.
The teams traded baskets for five minutes but the Spartans could not get the difference any smaller than 10 points. Senior forward Sam Gage's basket and one followed by a three with 2:54 left built the Maroon lead to 17 at 87-70. Case would try to whittle away at the lead but Gage's transition points would be too much as the Maroons closed the book on a 15-point result on the left side of the ledger.
The Maroons had only six turnovers in the game and saw their bench pour in 37 points. Simon was crucial off the bench for the second-straight game, utilizing an efficient two-man game with Muskeyvalley to score 24 points on 10 of 14 shooting (71.4 percent). He also pulled down 10 rebounds for his first double-double of the season. Muskeyvalley and Gage were similarly effective, combining for 42 points on 15 of 23 field goals (65.2 percent).
UChicago led the rebounding category 38-33 and dominated the points in the paint 48-14. The Spartans scored 13 second-chance points and shot 83.8 percent from the charity stripe in the game.