Case men's basketball defeats Rochester, eyes conference title
Feb. 18—Three years ago, the Case Western Reserve men's basketball program had a breakout season.
It included 20 wins, an upset victory over the No. 1-team in the country in the NCAA Division III tournament and a trip to the Sweet Sixteen.
There hasn't been much stopping the Spartans on the hardwood since then.
On Feb. 18, the good times continued for Case hoops during a 99-70 romp over visiting Rochester.
The win sets up a big day in the University Athletic Association Feb. 24 for Case and New York University.
After play Feb. 18, the Spartans and NYU are tied for first in the UAA at 9-4 with one game to play in the regular season.
To say there could be some scoreboard watching might be an understatement. Case hosts Carnegie Mellon on Feb. 24 at 3 p.m. at Horsburgh Gymnasium. NYU is at Brandeis on Feb. 24, also at 3 p.m.
Coach Todd McGuiness' team — which defeated Emory, 86-85, on Feb. 16 — is 20-4 and ranked in the top 10 nationally, and appears to be in great position to host a NCAA D-III first-round quadrant.
3 straight years with 20 wins, lots of people didn't think that could happen here. https://t.co/dXIoSofY4g
— Todd McGuinness (@oomac42) February 18, 2024
"3 straight years with 20 wins, lots of people didn't think that could happen here," McGuiness tweeted Feb. 18. Case is 62-15 since the 2021-22 season.
Against Rochester on Feb. 18, the Spartans used a big second half to pull away for a 29-point victory. Case led, 46-40, at the break then outscored its opponent, 53-30, in the final 20 minutes.
Rochester trailed by three points a little more than 3 minutes into the second half, but an 8-0 run by the Spartans pushed the lead to 11 points. They never looked back and led at one point by 31.
Anthony Mazzeo — a graduate student point guard — scored a team-high 24 points and dished a career-high nine assists. Preston Maccoux added 21 points off the bench and Colin Kahl had 20 points and nine rebounds.
Would could be interesting this week is the release of the NCAA's D-III regional rankings for men's basketball. Ten regions are represented with seven teams ranked in each. In Region 7 last week, John Carroll was No. 1 and Case No. 2. The Blue Steaks split a pair of games and are now 22-2. The 20-4 Spartans went 2-0 for the week.
If the Region 7 rankings are flipped this week — Case going to the No. 1 spot and JCU to No. 2 — there could be NCAA ramifications for both programs as they will be hoping to host a second-round quadrant — of course, that is if the teams make it that far.
There is plenty of basketball to be played until any of that comes to the forefront.
THE SCORE
CWRU 99, Rochester 70
