From University of Chicago Athletics
The University of Chicago men's basketball team jumped out to a big lead that it wouldn't relinquish in a 77-52 victory at Wheaton College on Wednesday.
The Maroons (5-2 record) won their fourth-straight game. The Thunder (3-2) had won the previous eight meetings between the two teams.
Back-to-back three pointers by forward Collin Barthel and Alex Voss gave the Maroons a 9-3 lead and they started rolling from there. The visitors went on a 15-2 run to go ahead 18-5. Junior forward Waller Perez muscled his way into the post consistently, converting in close for and-one and then hitting a jumper in the lane on the next possession.
Wheaton hit a pair of threes to get back within 18-13. But Perez stayed hot offensively with a trey of his own to push the lead back to 10 points. Perez and Voss were the main contributors on offense with 12 and 11 points, respectively, in the first half. A Perez put back and a Voss three made the score 33-18 in a foul-filled first half. The Maroons took a 34-18 lead into the break, as Wheaton shot only 23 percent from the field.
Perez hit another three and a layup to open the second half. He finished with a game-high 20 points on 8 of 10 shooting from the field. The lead increased to 52-30 on a tip-in by senior guard Scott Herlihy. The Thunder scored 10 of the next 12 points, but 54-40 was as close as they would get. A subsequent 8-0 UChicago run put the game out of reach.
With size advantage across the board, the Maroons dominated the rebounding category 54-31 overall and 19-9 on the offensive glass. Those offensive boards helped UChicago to a 21-3 edge in second-chance points. UChicago pulled down multiple offensive rebounds off missed free throws to keep possessions alive. When the Thunder got into the post offensively, the shots weren't falling when they met the bigger defenders.
Voss was the next highest scorer with 11 points, while junior guard Tyler Howard added in 10 points, seven rebounds and four assists.
UChicago Team Stats & Leaders
Field-goal Percentage – 43.1 percent (25-58)
Three-point Percentage – 37.5 percent (9-24)
Free-throw Percentage – 64.3 percent (18-28)
Waller Perez (Forward, Jr.) – 20 points, 4 rebounds
Alex Voss (Forward, Sr.) – 11 points, 6 rebounds
Tyler Howard (Guard, Jr.) – 10 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists