THE BASICS:
- Records: No. 15 MIT (11-1, 1-0 NEWMAC); WPI (6-6, 0-1 NEWMAC)
- Score: No. 15 MIT 94, WPI 58
- Location: Worcester, Mass. (Harrington Auditorium)
- The Lead: Led by a 24-point effort from junior Cameron Korb (Los Gatos, Calif.), the No. 15 MIT men's basketball team ran its winning streak to eight straight with a 94-58 win over WPI in the NEWMAC opener for both teams at Harrington Auditorium.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- MIT quickly built to a 10-point lead at 19-9 with 12:37 left in the first after a jumper from AJ Jurko (Weston, Fla.). Freshman Hamilton Forsythe (Weston, Conn.) also fueled the run with a pair of threes to finish the period with six points. With the MIT lead down to 22-18 with 10:21 on the clock following a Chris Rodgers layup, the Engineers embarked on an 18-0 scoring run over the next 5:28 to extend the MIT lead out to 40-18 at the 4:53 mark. A layup from WPI's Reid Walker stopped the scoring stretch as the visiting Engineers took an eventual 44-26 advantage into the halftime break.
- MIT forced nine WPI turnovers over the first 20 minutes, while WPI outrebounded the visitors by a 17-14 margin. MIT's Jurko and WPI's Walker were the top scorers in the period with 10 points each, while MIT shot 51.7 percent from the field and 50 percent from three for the half.
- In the second half, MIT stretched the lead out to 30 at 59-29 on a three from Korb with 14:29 remaining and the visitors led by at least 28 the rest of the way. The Engineers extended the advantage to as many as 42 on a late Forsythe three-pointer, en route to the eventual 94-58 victory.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- For the game, MIT shot 56.1 percent from the field, 56.5 percent from three-point land and 89.5 percent from the free throw line. Led by five three-pointers from Korb, MIT finished the game 13-for-23 from deep, including 6-of-9 in the second period.
- In addition to Korb's team-high 24, MIT had five players finish in double figures in the wire-to-wire victory. Junior Tim Roberts (Oak Bluffs, Mass.) had 17 points and seven rebounds, along with 14 from junior Bradley Jomard (Paris, France). Jurko was the final starter in double figures, along with 11 points off the bench by Forsythe.
- Walker was the lone WPI player in double figures with 11 points to go along with seven rebounds. For the game, MIT held a slight 32-28 rebounding advantage that included a 25-18 edge on the defensive glass.
UP NEXT:
- MIT returns to action on Saturday, January 6th as the Engineers host the U.S. Coast Guard Academy for a 2 p.m. start at Rockwell Cage.
STAY CONNECTED:
- For the latest on MIT Athletics, follow the Engineers via social media on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.