New York, N.Y., Jan. 23, 2015 – New York University tied a season-high with 10 three-pointers and shot 53.2 percent from the field as the Violets posted a 91-67 win over the No. 4-ranked Washington University in St. Louis men's basketball team Friday night at the Coles Sports Center in New York.
Washington U. had its two-game winning streak snapped and fell to 13-2, 2-2 in the University Athletic Association (UAA), while New York improved to 11-4, 2-2 in the conference.
Senior forward Nick Burt recorded his fourth career double-double with 13 points and a career-high 13 rebounds, while senior guard David Fatokihad 12 points and five assists.
Washington U. shot 38.2 percent (26-of-68 from field) in the loss, and hit just 2-of-18 three-pointers.
Washington U. fell behind 11-0 in the opening four and a half minutes of the contest, as the Bears were 0-for-7 with three turnovers. Fatoki's bucket with 15:07 to play ended the scoring drought for Washington U.
Fatoki was the lone scoring threat in the first half as he had seven of the first 11 points for the Bears. Despite Fatoki's great start, Seton Hall transfer Hakeem Harris was the story of the first half.
Harris had a stretch where he scored 11 of 15 points for the Violets, including three from beyond the arc. Harris' third triple gave NYU the 24-11 lead with 9:24 remaining before half. Iyoha Agho came off the bench for NYU and drilled two long three-pointers to increase the advantage to 35-15.
Harris hit two more three-pointers late in the first half as the Violets took a commanding 54-29 lead to half. Harris led all scorers with 17 first-half points on 5-of-6 three-pointers, as the Violets connected on 8-of-12 threes. Fatoki led the Bears with seven points as the Bears shot 35.3 percent (12-for-34) from the field, and were 0-for-10 from three-point range.
Washington U. would get the lead down to 17 (67-50) after a three-point play by Fatoki with 12:04 to play, but that would be as close as the Bears would get.
Harris led all scorers with 24 points on 6-of-10 three-point shooting, while Costis Gontikas had 22 points on 9-of-11 shooting. Evan Kupferberg (12 points, 11 rebounds) and Ross Udine (11 points) also scored in double figures for New York, who were outrebounded for just the second time this season 44-34.
Washington U. continues its East Coast road trip with a game Sunday, Jan. 25, at Brandeis University. Tip-off is set for Noon (ET) in Waltham, Mass. Brandeis upset No. 21 University of Chicago 59-58 Friday.
Bear Notebook: Washington U. leads the all-time series with New York, 41-14, and the Bears had their four-game win streak snapped with the loss … The 91 points allowed was a season high … Senior forward Matt Palucki picked up a pair of technical fouls and was ejected in the second half … Palucki had four rebounds and passed Tyler Nading for sole possession of seventh place in career rebounds with 654.