Senior Jake Davis scored 16 of his game-high 28 points in the second half and the Eagles rallied from a nine point second-half deficit in battling to a well-deserved win on the road over Chicago. The Eagles saw their overall record move to 13-6, 5-3 in the University Athletic Association after an 82-74 verdict over the Maroons who slipped to 11-8 overall, 4-4 in the league.
The win enabled head coach Jason Zimmerman to move into the No. 1 spot on the school's all-time list with 104 victories. Entering this evening's contest, Zimmerman was tied with Brett Zuver (1998-99 through 2006-07) for the top spot.
Davis sank nine-of-19 from the field, including three triples in five attempts, in racking up his 12th outing of 20 or more points this season. His final trey came with just 1:43 left in the game and gave the Eagles the lead for good at 75-74. Davis also finished with a game-high 10 rebounds, his second double-double of the year and 13th of his career. Sophomore Will Trawick was next up on the Emory score sheet with 14 points while junior Michael Florin and senior McPherson Moore contributed 11 and 10 points, respectively.
Davis knocked down a pair of free throws that cut a Chicago lead to 57-56, however the Maroons went on a 9-1 scoring spurt, capped by a three pointer by John Steinberg, to bolt to a 66-57 advantage with 7:15 left. The Eagles fought back with an 8-0 burst, with Davis scoring five points and junior Alex Foster hitting a three, to slice the UC lead to 66-65 with 5:40 remaining. After the Maroons extended their lead to six points, 71-65, the Eagles rallied to score seven of the game's next eight points to deadlock the score at 72-72 with 3:04 on the clock. Chicago hit two free throws to take a 74-72 lead with 2:08 remaining before Davis would counter with his triple. Foster gave Emory a little breathing room at 78-74 with his second trey of the night with 55 seconds remaining. The Maroons turned the ball over on their next possession and both Davis and Moore hit a pair of free throws over the final 38 seconds to nail down the outcome.
For the game, Emory hit 47.5 percent from the field (28-of-59) compared to Chicago's 41.1 percent (23-of-56). The Maroons were effective from beyond the arc, sinking 54.2 percent (13-of-24) of their tries while the Eagles converted six in 17 attempts. Emory held a slim 36-35 advantage on the glass and turned the ball over a season-low six times.
With Davis and Trawick scoring 12 and 10 points, respectively, Emory went into halftime with a 40-38 lead. The Eagles converted 45.5 percent from the floor (15-of-33) while the hosts sank 43.3 percent (13-of-30). The Maroons knocked down eight three points in 15 tries, three coming by Jordan Smith who finished the half with 13 points. Alex Voss sank a triple to give UC a 35-31 advantage but a pair of charity tosses by Trawick and bucket by Moore knotted the score up with 3:03 remaining. Another trey by Voss pushed the Maroons to a 38-35 lead with 2:18 on the clock, but the Eagles would score the last five points of the stanza, the final two coming by Davis with 36 ticks on the clock that broke a 38-38 deadlock.
Emory returns to action Sunday afternoon (Feb. 9) when it plays at No. 4-ranked Washington University.