Tartans Edged in Overtime at #6 Chicago

(CHICAGO, Ill.) – The Carnegie Mellon University men's basketball team traveled to Chicago, Illinois Sunday and left with a 76-74 overtime loss to the sixth-ranked University of Chicago Maroons. The Tartans are now 10-11 overall and 2-8 in University Athletic Association (UAA) play. The Maroons moved to 19-3, 9-2.

Game Information
Carnegie Mellon 74, Chicago 76
Records: Carnegie Mellon (10-11, 2-8), Chicago (19-3, 9-2)
Location: Chicago, Ill. (Gerald Ratner Athletics Center)

How it Happened

• The Tartans used an 11-2 run to take a 15-7 lead at the 13-minute mark of the first half. During the run, graduate student Nikola Dimitrijevic accounted for six points.
• The Maroons answered, as the home team scored 11 straight points over the next four minutes and led 18-15.
• Carnegie Mellon responded and scored eight unanswered points to take a 23-18 advantage with 6:54 to play in the first half.
• Two minutes later, Chicago retook the lead at 25-23, but on the ensuing possession down the court for the Tartans, junior Isaac Higgs drained a triple that gave the lead right back to the Cardinal and Gray at 26-25.
• Over the final three minutes of the first half, the Maroons uses a 14-4 run and took a 39-32 lead into the break.
• Chicago grew its lead to 46-36, the largest of the contest, in the beginning of the second half solely off of free throws.
• A 10-2 run by the Tartans that ended with a layup by sophomore Evan Mirazimi with 11:58 to play made the score 48-46.
• Seven minutes later, a triple at the top of the arc by Higgs off a pass from Dimitrijevic knotted the score at 57-all.
• Back-to-back treys by the Maroons, the first from Shane Regan and the latter by Nick Roper, pushed the score to 63-57 with 3:40 to play.
• With 49.6 seconds left in regulation, a pair of foul shots by Dimitrijevic tied the score at 63-63.
• After two missed three-point attempts by the Maroons, Carnegie Mellon's Mirazimi grabbed the rebound to set up a potential game winning shot, but a turnover by the Tartans with one second remaining sent the game into overtime.
• Mirazimi opened the overtime scoring with a layup off his own steal before Chicago took the lead 16 seconds later with a three-pointer by Regan.
• With 2:20 to play in overtime, a pair of foul shots by Mirazimi put the Tartans ahead 70-69.
• An and-one conversion by Chicago's Phillip Lawrence with 1:09 on the clock gave the lead back to the Marrons at 73-72.
• A backdown layup by Dimitrijevic with 35 seconds tied the score once again at 74-74.
• With 4.1 seconds on the clock Roper was fouled on an offensive rebound and went to the foul line and converted both shots to make the score 76-74.
• As time expired, graduate student Sam Adusei had a running three-point attempt but hit the front of the iron to give Chicago the overtime victory.

Tartan Stats

• Carnegie Mellon held an 18-2 edge on fastbreak points.
• The Tartans shot 48.2% (27-56) from the field, 40% (6-15) from behind the arc, and 77.8% (14-18) from the free throw line.
• Dimitrijevic led the Tartans with a double-double pouring in a career-high 26 points and grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds.
• Mirazimi finished with 13 points and collected a career-high four steals, He also grabbed five rebounds.
• Sophomore Ian Brown and Adusei both finished with nine points, while Adusei handed out four assists.

Maroon Stats

• Chicago shot 36.7% (22-60) from the field, 32.4% (11-34) from behind the arc, and 84% (21-25) from the free throw line.
• Shane Regan led the Maroons with 22 points, while Roper scored 19 and Joe Berry finished with 11.
• Roper also tabbed a double-double with 10 rebounds.

Game Notes

• The double-double for Dimitrijevic is his fourth on the season.
• The Tartans are now 1-2 in overtime contests this season.

Up Next

The Tartans will host the University of Rochester on Friday, February 20 at 5:30 p.m.