#14 Men’s Basketball Defeats Washington (Mo.) University 86-80

Jan. 29 - (ST. LOUIS, Mo.) – The #14 Carnegie Mellon men’s basketball team traveled to the St. Louis, Mo. Sunday, January 27 and came away with an 86-80 decision to the Bears of Washington University in University Athletic Association (UAA) play. The Tartans improve to 15-3 overall and 5-2 in UAA play, as Washington drops to 13-5 overall and 5-2. With the win the Tartans pull into a first place tie with the Bears in the UAA.

With the victory, Head Coach Tony Wingen tied F.M. Cratsley (1949-1966) on Carnegie Mellon’s all-time win list. Wingen now has 173 wins in his 16th year at the helm. He will look to move into first all-time Friday when the Tartans host Washington University at Skibo Gymnasium.

After the Tartans jumped out an early 7-2 lead, Washington scored the next ten points over a two minute span to take a 12-7 lead with 16:19 to play in the first half. The Bears would only be able to hold the lead for just over two minutes, as Tartan senior A.J. Straub (St. Mary’s Pa./Elk County Catholic) drained one of his five three-point baskets of the first half, starting a 12-2 run for Carnegie Mellon. The Tartans run ended with a 26-18 lead with 12:18 remaining in the half.

Carnegie Mellon would extend their lead to 13 points (46-33) heading into the locker room behind an offense shooting 7-of-9 from behind the arc including 5-of-6 from Straub. Straub continued his streak of hitting a three-point basket extending it to 21 straight games. The offense was not the only key to the Tartans strong first half. Sophomore Geoff Kozak (Huntingdon, Pa./Huntingdon Area) played tremendous defense coming away with three steals in the first frame.

The Tartans maintained their double digit lead for most of the second half building their biggest lead of 14 (75-61) with 7:53 left in regulation off a three pointer by Straub. Washington would cut the Tartans lead to two (78-76) after a 15-3 run over the next 4:30.

Straub would end the Bears run knocking in his seventh trey with just under three minutes to play giving the Tartans the 81-76 advantage. The Bears senior Scott Stone on the ensuing possession would convert on a lay-up cutting the Tartans lead back to three (81-78) with 2:44 left on the clock. After a Bears timeout, senior Nate Maurer (Pittsburgh, Pa./Linsly School) would put the Tartans back on top by five (83-78) on a lay-up.

Carnegie Mellon held an 85-80 lead with under a minute to play with the ball, but a tie-up of the ball gave the Bears possession of the ball with 35.6 seconds to play in regulation. After a missed three-point shot by the Bears the Tartans grabbed the rebound and senior Clayton Barlow-Wilcox (Brookline, Mass.) was fouled converting on one of his two foul shots sealing the 86-80 victory for the Tartans.

Straub led the Tartans with 21 points going 7-of-9 from behind the arc. Barlow-Wilcox recorded his seventh double-double on the season cashing in with 16 points and hauling in 10 rebounds. Maurer also had a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds. The only other Tartan in double figures was senior Marques Johnson (Pittsburgh, Pa./Upper St. Clair) with 15 points. Senior Bary Dunn (Pittsburgh, Pa./Taylor Allderdice) finished two rebound and two points shy of a double-double, but his eight rebounds marks a career-high. The Tartans shot 71.4 % (10-14) from behind the arc and grabbed 42 rebounds to the Bears 36.

Sophomore Troy Ruths led the Bears with a career-high 27 points on 10-of-19 from the field and grabbed 11 rebounds. Stone had 13 points as wells as junior Neal Griffin, while freshman Tyler Nading contributed 11 points and seven rebounds.

The Carnegie Mellon men’s basketball team will host Washington University Friday, February 3 for an 8:00 p.m. tip at Skibo Gymnasium.