CLEVELAND – While the first half played out neck-and-neck, the University of Chicago men's basketball team could not keep pace with Case Western Reserve University's offensive explosion in the second half of an 84-66 loss on Friday evening.

The Maroons dropped to 6-10 overall (1-4 in the University Athletic Association). The Spartans improved to 14-2 and 4-1 in UAA games.

In the early going, two-straight jumpers by junior Bryce Hopkins followed by senior Brandon Beckman's three-pointer gave the Maroons a quick 9-5 advantage. After five points in-a-row by Case Western Reserve, the visitors answered back with a 7-0 run that included an and-one layup by sophomore Elliot Paschal to make it 16-10.

The see-saw battle continued for the duration of the half. UChicago retook the lead on another Hopkins jumper at 30-29. The Spartans would go into halftime holding a slim 34-33 edge.

Senior Zach Munson made his presence known with 13 points on 6-for-8 shooting in the opening 20 minutes. He also grabbed six rebounds. Hopkins chipped in seven points as well.

The game flipped decidedly in the second half. CWRU took the lead for good at 37-35 within the first minute. UChicago stayed within striking distance for awhile, with Paschal contributing another bucket-and-foul to draw his squad to within 49-46. The Spartans then slowly but surely pulled away, increasing the deficit to double digits at 56-46. A 16-4 run over a four-minute stretch helped the home team put the contest out of reach.

The Spartans heated up in the second half – they connected on 61.5 percent of their field goals and sank 8 of 15 from beyond the arc (53.3 percent). On the other side, UChicago went 1-for-12 from deep during the period.

Munson secured his first double-double of the season with game highs of 20 points and 10 rebounds. Hopkins put up 14 points and five rebounds. First-year Thomas Kurowski tallied 10 points off the bench.

The final box score for UChicago featured a 42.2 field-goal percentage, a 16.7 three-point percentage (4-24) and a 66.7 free-throw percentage (8-12). Case Western Reserve posted a 50.0 field-goal percentage, a 42.4 three-point percentage (14-33) and a perfect showing at the free throw line (6-6).

CWRU led the rebounding (37-34), assists (19-8) and turnover (8-10) categories.

NEXT GAME:

• Sunday, Jan. 30 @ 12:00 PM (ET) – UChicago at Carnegie Mellon University