After racing through non-conference play with a 10-1 record and grabbing its highest national ranking in University history, the men's basketball team learned just how difficult its conference, the University Athletic Association, can be. Just days after entering the d3hoops.com Top 25 for the first time in program history-the team was ranked No. 23 on Jan. 3-the Judges dropped their first two UAA contests on the road, falling 83-65 to the University of Rochester Jan. 5 before losing 75-68 to Carnegie-Mellon University on Jan. 7.

The team got back on track with a 52-48 home win over No. 24 New York University on Saturday, and now stands at 11-3 on the season and 1-2 in conference play.

"Overall, its been kind of disappointing," forward Steve DeLuca '08 said. "In our first two games, we didn't come out as we should have, but we came together and played with a lot of intensity [against NYU]."

The Judges' defense compensated for the team's poor shooting Saturday. Forward Steve DeLuca '08 carried the offense with 26 points, and the Judges held Violets star senior forward Jason Boone to only three points, 10 below his season average.

"We fronted [Boone] in the post and brought help from the weak side with our guards," forward Steve Hill '08 said. "The guards did a great job of doubling him when he got the ball, and we really made sure to be physical with him."

With the Judges trailing 47-45 with 3:11 remaining, DeLuca took over. He grabbed his own rebound off a missed three-pointer, leading to a game-tying layup by Terrell Hollins '10. After the two teams traded misses, DeLuca nailed a three-pointer from the top of the key, giving the Judges the lead for good with 1:28 remaining.

"I noticed I had some breathing room on my defender, shot the three, and it went in," DeLuca said on his go-ahead shot.

The Violets had one last chance, trailing 51-48 with six seconds remaining, but junior guard Charlie Parker threw the ball out of bounds on the inbound pass.

DeLuca's 26 points represented half of the Judges' total. Coach Brian Meehan said the team made sure to get him the ball in situations where he could exploit the slower Violet defenders.

"They have nobody who can match up with Steve," Meehan said. "I told him to be assertive, and we gave him lots of shots."

Rochester blitzed the Judges early on Jan. 5, scoring 21 straight points in the first half to turn a close game into a rout. The Yellow Jacket lead eventually grew to 32 points later in the half, and the Judges got no closer than 13 the rest of the way. Junior guard Jeff Juron led the Yellow Jackets with 15 points, hitting on all five of his field goals to lead a 58-percent team shooting effort. Rookie guard Kenny Small '10 paced the Judges with 15 points, as Meehan played his reserves in the second half in an attempt to find a spark.

"Our help defense was the problem," point guard Kwame Graves-Fulgham '08 said. "We weren't in the right positions, and when someone drove by us, it broke up the whole defense."

Two days later, the Tartans held Brandeis without a field goal in the final two minutes, turning a 68-67 deficit into a 75-67 victory. Graves-Fulgham's layup with 2:02 remaining gave the Judges the advantage, but they failed to capitalize on their next two posessions, allowing the Tartans to take the lead with 49 seconds left on junior guard Geoff Kozak's jumper. On the next possession, Graves-Fulgham committed an offensive foul for charging, and the Tartans iced the game with six late free throws.

"We had chances at the end of the game, but the shots just didn't go in, and there's nothing you can really do about that," Hill said.

Three-point shooting and rebounding were two of the Judges' biggest strengths in non-conference play, but they have struggled mightily in both categories over their first three UAA contests. After shooting 47 percent on three-pointers in non-conference games, the Judges have seen their accuracy slip to 24 percent, including a woeful 5-26 mark in the win over NYU. The Judges have also struggled on the glass, as UAA opponents are outrebounding them by an average of 10 a game.

"It really just comes down to effort on the glass," Hill said. "We really just have to make a commitment as a team to have everybody coming in there and boxing out?"

The Judges next play host to UAA foes Case Western Reserve University at 8 p.m. Friday and Emory University at noon Sunday.