MIDDLEBURY, Vt. – University of Chicago men's basketball hit the road for the last two contests of a season long six game road trip and participated in the 2023 UAA Challenge by taking on both Bowdoin and Middlebury in Vermont. The Maroons led wire to wire against the Polar Bears on Saturday before completing a clean sweep of the weekend by dispatching the host Panthers on Sunday.

RESULTS
UChicago – 73
Bowdoin – 61

UChicago – 88
Middlebury – 64
HOW IT HAPPENED

• vs. Bowdoin  
  • University of Chicago's (6-2) first points of the game against Bowdoin (3-5) came at the free throw line just 40 seconds into the contest. From there, it only took the Maroons five minutes to build up a double-digit lead. The Polar Bears did have a comeback in them and pulled even ten minutes later but by the time the halftime horn sounded, Chicago was back up by 11.
  • The second half was much of the same story. The Maroons held a comfortable lead before Bowdoin chipped away halfway through the period. It looked like UChicago could go down for the first time in the contest with 6:30 left to play but the Maroons closed out the ballgame on a 17-5 run to secure a 12-point victory.
  • Thomas Kurowski and Phillip Lawrence led UChicago with a game high 15 points each while Byrce Hopkins cleaned up on the boards with eight rebounds.
• vs. Middlebury
  • Chicago liked not trailing in Saturday's contest so much that they did it again on Sunday against host Middlebury (2-6). The Maroons shot 50 percent in the first half and took advantage of a Panthers team that made only nine field goals in the opening 20 minutes.
  • The Polar Bears were given the chance to slip back into the game on Saturday thanks to the Chicago offense cooling off in the second half but that didn't happen on Sunday. The Maroons still shot 48.4 percent from the field and drained six of their 14 three-pointers in the frame. In fact, they grew their lead over Middlebury to 33 points with about three minutes remaining before settling for a comfortable 24-point win.
  • Kurowski once again led all players with 20 points, but it was Luke Smith who took home the rebound crown with eight.

WHO'S ON DECK
The Maroons will be back in action when they finally return home on Saturday, December 16^th. Their opponent at the Ratner will be Wheaton starting at 1:00 pm.

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