Juron scored 18 points, had two steals, two blocks, and two assists in 35 minutes. Onyiriuka scored 16 points and grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds. He blocked three shots in 33 minutes. Mike Goia was Rochester’s third double figure scorer with 15 points.
NYU’s Jason Boone led all scorers with 22 points. Boone blocked three shots, made two steals, and grabbed six rebounds. Jared Kildare had 9 points and five assists for the Violets. Matt Basford scored eight points.
Rochester’s win moves the Yellowjackets into a second place tie in the University Athletic Association with NYU and Washington. All three teams are 7-4, a game behind Carnegie Mellon. Rochester is 16-6 overall, NYU 18-4.
The UAA champion earns an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III playoffs. NYU hosts Chicago and Washington next weekend, then finishes at Brandeis. Rochester and Carnegie Mellon play at Case and Emory next Friday, then switch sites on Sunday (UR at Emory, Carnegie at Case). Rochester finishes the regular season at Carnegie Mellon. Washington plays at Brandeis Friday, at NYU Sunday, and at Chicago on Feb. 26.
A three-point goal by Goia triggered an early 16-3 Rochester run that pushed the Yellowjackets ahead, 20-12 with 11:09 left in the half.
Basford scored eight points in four and a half minutes, including back to back three-pointers, as the Violets drew within 25-24 with 4:27 left. Rochester closed the half with a conventional three-point play by Eric Snider and a jumper by Juron for a 34-26 lead at the break.
Early in the second half, Goia hit a pair of threes and Juron added another to build the lead to 47-34 six minutes in. It peaked at 16 twice, the last time on Onyiriuka’s layup from Tim Brackney (55-39 with 7:34 left). The Yellowjackets made eight free throws in the final 1:15 – four by Juron – to seal the win.
Rochester’s defense held NYU to 29.4% from the floor (15 of 51) after the Violets shot a season’s best 50.0% (27 of 54) in a 68-50 win over Rochester in New York on January 6. NYU made only 6 of 24 in the second half, 0 of 8 outside the arc. Rochester wasn’t much better, hitting 9 of 27, but the Yellowjackets made three treys and were 12 of 14 from the line.
Michael DeCorso, NYU’s second leading scorer at 14.8 ppg., finished with six points. He was scoreless in the first half, picking up three fouls in the first 12 minutes, then sitting down. He earned his fourth foul three minutes into the second half and spent the next nine minutes on the bench. With DeCorso out, Rochester built the lead from 9 (39-30) to sixteen (53-37).
ROCHESTER 67, NEW YORK UNIVERSITY 53 NEW YORK UNIVERSITY (18-4, 7-4 UAA) Boone, Jason 7-13 8-11 22; Kildare, Jared 2-13 5-6 9; Basford, Matt 2-6 2-2 8; DeCorso, Michael 1-7 4-4 6; Clark, Chael 1-4 2-2 4; Magee, Michael 2-8 0-0 4; White, Tom 0-0 0-0 0; Greenberg, Jesse 0-0 0-0 0; McQueen, Revan 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 15-51 21-25 53. ROCHESTER (16-6, 7-4 UAA) Juron, Jeff 6-10 4-4 18; Onyiriuka, Jon 8-12 0-4 16; Goia, Mike 5-15 2-2 15; Snider, Eric 3-5 1-1 7; Milbrand, Dan 1-2 2-2 4; Brackney, Tim 1-2 0-0 3; Canty, Joe 0-2 2-2 2; Chmielowiec, Michael 0-4 2-2 2; Ndubizu, Uche 0-1 0-0 0; Kaplan, Max 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-53 13-17 67. New York University........... 26 27 - 53 Rochester..................... 34 33 - 67 3-point goals-New York University 2-14 (Basford, Matt 2-5; Kildare, Jared 0-5; DeCorso, Michael 0-3; Magee, Michael 0-1), Rochester 6-17 (Goia, Mike 3-8; Juron, Jeff 2-4; Brackney, Tim 1-2; Canty, Joe 0-1; Chmielowiec, Michael 0-2). Fouled out--New York University-Basford, Matt, Rochester-Snider, Eric. Rebounds-New York University 31 (Kildare, Jared 7), Rochester 33 (Onyiriuka, Jon 10). Assists-New York University 8 (Kildare, Jared 5), Rochester 12 (Goia, Mike 3). Total fouls-New York University 21, Rochester 22. A-623