CHICAGO -- The sixth-ranked University of Chicago men's basketball dropped its second consecutive 50-point second half to earn a 74-64 win over top-ranked Emory University. After struggling to put points on the board in the first, UChicago bounced back to take control in the second, bringing home the program's first win over the #1 team in the country since 2015.

After falling behind 35-24 at the break, UChicago opened the second half with urgency, scoring on three consecutive plays to cut the lead to six. Joe Berry drove in for a layup just over a minute in, and Nick Roper followed with a tip-in to build the momentum for the Maroons. Daniel Cochran then buried a much-needed three, and set the tone for the dominant offensive effort.

As baskets from Roper and Shane Regan chipped away at the deficit, the Eagles responded to bring the lead back to a three-possession game with 14 minutes remaining. Regan answered again at 14:21 to keep the Maroons within striking distance.

With the Maroons trailing 52-47, Berry drilled a three-pointer off an assist from Regan, lighting the Ratner Center on fire. Moments later, Roper converted a layup off a Regan feed to cut the deficit to one, and on the next possession, Roper scored again in the paint to tie the game at 56 with five minutes remaining.

From there, the Maroons never took their foot of the gas. Regan knocked down two free throws after a tough drive to give UChicago its first lead of the second half. At 3:01, Eamonn Kenah connected from beyond the arc, pushing the lead to five. Less than a minute later, Cochran drained another three-pointer to extend the advantage to eight, the Maroons' largest lead of the game so far with just two minutes left.

UChicago capitalized at the free throw line, hitting 10 of 12 free throws in the final 90 seconds to seal the victory.

Shane Regan led all scorers with 24 points, 18 of which came in the second half, while adding eight assists and seven rebounds. Roper finished with 17 points and nine rebounds, and Cochran tallied 16 points, including four three-pointers, along with 14 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the season.

In the game, senior Joe Berry scored his 1,000th career point, becoming just the 19th Maroon to accomplish the feat. 

With the win, UChicago improves to 16-2 overall and 6-1 in conference play. The Maroons will return to action next weekend as the team hits the road for the return trip at Rochester and #1 Emory.