The Case Western Reserve University men’s basketball team continued their UAA play this past weekend with a pair of games: one against Washington University in St. Louis, and another against the University of Chicago. In the aftermath of their upset win over Carnegie Mellon University on Saturday, Jan. 11, CWRU failed to keep the momentum going as they suffered losses to both WashU (final score 64-104) and UChicago (final score 60-71).
The game against WashU took place on Friday, Jan. 17, in St. Louis. In this contest, CWRU was able to take an early lead in the game thanks to a layup by graduate student guard Nicholas Schiavello and a 3-pointer by fourth-year guard Sam Trunley; these two shots occurred during the first two minutes of play, putting the Spartans up 5-2. Throughout much of the first half, the Spartans and Bears kept up a close contest, with the point margins between the teams remaining relatively narrow for some time. However, during the latter portion of the period, WashU began pulling further away, consistently scoring most of their shots while CWRU struggled to keep up. By halftime, the Bears had achieved a 46-28 advantage over the Spartans.
With the start of the second half, CWRU made attempts to cut into the lead WashU had built up so far. Following a 3-pointer by Schiavello and a layup by third-year forward Aaron Rucker, the Spartans were able to reach a 16-point deficit over the Bears, with the score at 49-33 and more than 18 minutes left in play. This would prove to be the closest CWRU would get to WashU, however, as the latter continued to extend its lead over the course of the period. Meanwhile, the Spartans suffered several missed shots and fouls, preventing them from ever again making a significant dent in the Bears’s lead.
Reflecting on CWRU’s loss, graduate student forward Andy Barba attributed it to relative inaction on the part of the Spartans.
“I think that we lost due to our lack of energy and ball movement,” Barba reflected. “We did not show up to play and WashU took advantage of this. We did not pass the ball to each other enough, and against a disciplined team like WashU on the road, it is hard to overcome.”
Barba scored the most points out of any Spartan in the game, with 16 points to his name from 6 of 14 shots from the floor (and including 2 of 6 shots from beyond the arc). Trunley scored 14 points from 5 of 12 attempted shots—an effort that also included 2 of 6 long-range shots, while Schiavello finished the contest with 9 points coming from 4 out of 9 shots taken. Overall, the Spartans shot 25-59 (42.4%) from the field with 6-24 (25.0%) from beyond the 3-point line.
Following this loss to WashU, CWRU traveled to Chicago to compete against the University of Chicago on Sunday, Jan. 19. The first half of the game saw the Spartans and the Maroons keep things neck-in-neck, though much of the period saw UChicago hold a lead over CWRU; this peaked at a 9-point lead for the Maroons with five minutes left in the period. Over the course of those five minutes, however, the Spartans continued to close in on the gap thanks to key shots by Trunley, Schiavellod and fourth-year forward Umar Rashid. By the end of the period, CWRU had taken a 32-30 lead over UChicago.
With the tipoff of the second half, the Spartans and the Maroons kept each other in check, as the two teams went back-and-forth over the lead in points. With less than 13 minutes left in the period, a 3-pointer by Rashid put the Spartans at a 43-41 lead. This would prove to be the last time CWRU held the lead in the game, however; UChicago also immediately answered with 5 points to take the lead, one that would hold for the remainder of the game despite the best efforts of the Spartans. While CWRU was able to come as close as a 1-point deficit—with the score at 52-51 with 8:35 left to play—the Maroons continued to pull away and maintain their lead for the rest of the game, at one point achieving a 15-point lead over the Spartans.
Looking at the game from a stats perspective, all 60 points scored by the Spartans came courtesy of their starters. Barba made 9 of his 18 shots from the floor, along with matching his career high 3-pointer count: 4 shots out of 9 attempts. Fourteen points came courtesy of Trunley, who scored them in 5 out of 19 attempt shots. Rashid scored 16 points, Schiavello added 6, while Rucker claimed 2 to his name. The Spartans shot 24-63 (38.1%) over the course of the game, with 5-25 (20.0%) coming from behind the 3-point line.
Barba had several thoughts about what the Spartans would need to work on moving forward.
“We need to improve our defense and share the ball more,” Barba commented. “We are a very talented team who has had a rough season partly due to bad luck, but we can turn the season around and make it a success if we come together.”
And indeed the Spartans have several chances to turn the season around, including this coming weekend when they will be hosting a pair of games inside Horsburgh Gymnasium. On Friday, Jan. 24 they will be inviting Brandeis University, followed by No. 4-ranked New York University on Saturday, Jan. 26.