From University of Chicago Athletics
The University of Chicago men's basketball team scored on its first possession and never trailed in a 93-77 wire-to-wire victory over Monmouth College at the Rhodes College Holiday Classic on Saturday.
The Maroons (7-1 record) won their seven-straight game – it marks the third game this season that they haven't trailed at any point. The Fighting Scots fell to 2-5.
Junior forward Collin Barthel got the ball rolling with six points in-a-row to open the game. Consecutive three-pointers by sophomore guard Noah Karras followed and the Maroons were off to the races with a 17-3 lead. That advantage ballooned up to 20 points at 27-7 following junior guard Jake Fenlon's deep jumper.
Down 34-17, Monmouth began to find its way offensively and chopped the deficit all the way to 36-30. An and-one play by senior forward Waller Perez halted the rally, and his three-pointer then made the score 44-32. Perez ended the half with a layup as part of his 14 points. UChicago was rolling offensively, shooting 65.5 percent in the opening 20 minutes to take a 46-35 lead. Karras went 3-for-4 from long range for nine points, and the Maroons were an efficient 7-for-12 from beyond the three-point arc.
UChicago scored on its first three possession of the second half to go back up by 17 points at 54-37. Senior forward Blaine Crawford established himself in the post and scored eight-straight points for the Maroons to make the score 66-55. Crawford accounted for 11 points and 10 rebounds in the second half. The Maroons led by at least eight points for the rest of the game and earned their sixth double-digit victory margin of the season.
Karras was the team's leading scorer with 19 points, including five three-pointers. Perez recorded his first double-double of the season with 16 points and 11 rebounds, while Crawford posted his fourth double-double (15 points, 10 rebounds). Overall, six Maroons finished with at least 10 points, including senior guard Tyler Howard (14 points and 8 assists), Fenlon (12 points) and Barthel (11 points and 6 rebounds).
UChicago shot a season-best 60.3 percent on its field goals and sank 50 percent from three-point range (12-24). Monmouth's field-goal percentage stood at 39.7 percent overall and 28.6 percent from deep (8-28).
The Maroons held a 41-37 lead on the boards, while the Fighting Scots turned 13 UChicago turnovers into 27 points.