From NYU Athletics

Led by one of the strongest duos in the University Athletic Association (UAA), Hakeem Harris and Evan Kupferberg, the New York University men's basketball team defeated Carnegie Mellon University 94-82 on Sunday afternoon, February 15, at the Jerome S. Coles Sports Center in Manhattan.

Sunday was also NYU Faculty Family Day.
 
Harris led the Violets with 28 points – the junior guard was also 7-of-11 from long range and a perfect 5-of-5 from the foul line – for his seventh 20-plus-point game in UAA play. Kupferberg was NYU's second-leading scorer with 26 points (9-of-16 from the floor), while grabbing nine rebounds.
 
"When you have balance on your inside-out game, it keeps the other team off balance and allows for good balance on your side offensively," said NYU Head Coach Joe Nesci.
 
The Violets (16-6, 7-4 UAA) finished a weekend sweep with their victory over the Tartans (12-10, 3-8 UAA). In addition, NYU's win paired with the University of Chicago's loss to Emory University on Sunday, placed the Violets atop the ultra-competitive Association standings.
 
Against Carnegie Mellon, NYU got off to a slow start. The Violets were forced to call a timeout with 16:17 left in the first in order to stop the bleeding as they trailed 14-7. Following the timeout, NYU went on an 8-2 run to take its first lead of the game at 19-16.
 
After a couple of Tartan baskets put NYU down 21-19, the Violets busted out on a 24-1 to take control of the contest beginning with a three-pointer from Ross Udine at the 12:20 mark. The run was capped off with an exclamation point as Costis Gontikas took a Patrick Burns pass under the basket and slammed it home emphatically with 4:30 left until the break.
 
Following that run, though, the Tartans were able to get right back into the contest with a 26-8 run of their own between the 3:44 mark of the first half and the 15:20 point in the second to trim NYU's lead to three, 51-48.
 
"They have the ability to hit threes and make them in bunches," continued Nesci. "So even though I thought our defense was solid throughout, they came up with some big shots on the perimeter."
 
The Violets were able to shake off that run by Carnegie Mellon with a 9-0 run of their own, capped off by a four-point play – three pointer and a foul – by Harris with 12:16 remaining. Following that point, NYU was able to gain control of the outcome, taking a lead as large as 21 points – 90-69 with 2:49 left – en route to the victory.
 
HIGHLIGHTS:
 
- Not to be outdone by his fellow classmates, Gontikas poured in 19 points and grabbed nine rebounds in 27 minutes. The junior center was 8-of-14 from the floor.
 
- Iyoha Agho finished with eight points and six rebounds off the bench for NYU. The senior guard was 2-of-4 from long range and 2-of-2 from the charity stripe in 23 minutes.
 
- Udine paced the Violets with seven assists. The freshman point guard chipped in seven points and a rebound, as well.
 
- NYU outrebounded the Tartans 45-31 and outscored them 36-26 in points in the paint.
 
"I thought our rebounding and our half-court defense was the difference in the game," Nesci said.
 
- CMU's Jack Serbin led all players with 31 points and 16 rebounds.