No. 6 UChicago Men's Basketball Heads to Elite Eight with 93-92 Win over No. 7 Gustavus Adolphus
The sxith-ranked University of Chicago men's basketball team held on for a 93-92 win over No. 7 Gustavus Adolphus to advance to the national quarterfinals for just the second time in program history.
Gustavus Adolphus started quickly on the road with a 12-2 advantage early in the first four minutes. UChicago would answer with back-to-back triples from
Eamonn Kenah and Nick Roper, but the Gusties would continue to use their physicality to make things difficult for the Maroons. Gustavus Adolphus would go on a 13-5 run to stretch their lead to the largest of the game at 27-13 with 8:27 to go in the half.
With Gusties continuing to roll, UChicago turned on the gas late in the half with a 15-2 run over a three-minute span, thanks to a three from Shane Regan, five straight points from Daniel Cochran, and a big triple from Kenah to cut the lead to one at 36-35. The teams would then head into the locker room with a 40-39 lead for Gustavus Adolphus after the Gusties led for 18 minutes and 30 seconds in the opening half.
The Maroons would take their first lead of the game with an offensive rebound and putback by Nick Roper on the opening possession of the half, and Cochran would hit another big triple to stretch the lead to 44-40. The two teams would continue to trade buckets back and forth with the UChicago lead never stretching past two possessions until Phillip Lawrence hit back-to-back triples with 12:41 and 12:12 to go to give the Maroons their largest lead at the time at 66-57.
After the Gustavus Adolphus timeout, the Gusties fired back with a run of their own, but Joe Berry and Lawrence combined to hit three straight layups inside, giving the Maroons their largest lead of the entire game at 75-63 with 8:41 remaining. However, Gustavus Adolphus would not go down without a fight as the Gusties hit two threes and a layup to cut the lead to four.
With the Maroons leading 86-80 at the under four-minute media timeout, it became the Myles Barnette show for the Gusties as the junior hit and-one layups on back-to-back possessions to cut the lead to two. However, Cochran hit a big and-one of his own after an offensive rebound to extend the lead back to two possessions.
After two more layups for Gustavus Adolphus, Daniel Cochran was fouled with one minute remaing, and he hit both free throws to stretch the lead back to three. The Gusties would hit another layup with 46 seconds to go, and the Maroons were called for an offensive foul with 20 seconds remaining, giving the Gusties a chance to win the game on the final shot. The Maroons were able to get the get the stop after a missed three and offensive rebound to give UChicago the 93-92 victory in one of the best games in the country this season.
Shane Regan led the team with 21 points and 7 assists. Daniel Cochran added 18 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists on 5-9 shooting, and Eamonn Kenah drilled four triples for 18 points as well. Nick Roper added 16 points and a team-high 8 rebounds, and Phillip Lawrence added double digits off the bench with 11 points on 4-4 shooting from the floor.
With the win, the Maroons have earned a trip to Fort Wayne, Indiana for their second National Quarterfinal appearance in program history, joining the 2000-01 team.