The New York University men's basketball team defeated SUNY Purchase 75-53 in the 2015-16 season opener at the Coles Sports Center in Manhattan on Sunday, November 15.

Despite trailing early, the Violets (1-0) used a 6-0 run to take an 11-8 lead and never trailed again. NYU took a 31-20 lead at halftime and increased it to a game-high 30 points on Evan Kupferberg's old-fashioned three-point play with 10:47 remaining in the contest. The Violets never led by less than 21 points the rest of the way as Kupferberg finished with game-highs of 19 points and eight rebounds.. 

"My teammates and my coaches helped put me in a good position to do well today," Kupferberg said.

Also contributing in the frontcourt for NYU was Costis Gontikas, who had 17 points and five rebounds, and Tony Bai, who totaled 11 points in his first career start. 

"All of our seniors show the way to our younger players. I count on them in a big way," said Head Coach Joe Nesci.  

In the backcourt, sophomore Ross Udine finished with 10 points and 12 assists, one below his career high.

The Panthers (0-2) were led by Taylor Foster, who finished with 15 points and eight rebounds.

HIGHLIGHTS:

- Four players made their collegiate debuts for the Violets: Jay Murphy, Doug Gertner, Gaurav Goparaju, and Max Parks. Murphy played the most minutes of the group (17) and pulled down seven rebounds.

- Senior Max Ralby added five points, eight rebounds, four assists, and a steal.

- NYU shot 46.7% from the field, while holding SUNY Purchase to 29.8%.

"I thought we did a really good defensive job in our half court defense, and rebounding and holding them to under 30% shooting," Nesci added.  

The Violets return to the hardwood on Saturday, November 21, when they host Moravian College at 5:00 pm in the first round of the NYU Tip-Off Tournament.