The two losses were both similar and different. They were both on a Midwestern road trip. They were both against conference foes. And they both added to the men's basketball team's midseason road woes.But in losing two straight road games this weekend, the Judges found different ways to do so. The team fell behind early and lost 88-76 to the University of Chicago just two days after taking an early lead but struggling late in a 68-64 loss to No. 11 Washington University in St. Louis.

Brandeis now stands 13-5 on the season, but with a 3-4 record in the University Athletic Association, each conference game is becoming more dire as the Judges try to position themselves for a postseason tournament bid.

"Playing every other game doesn't do it for us; we're not good enough for that," coach Brian Meehan said. "We need everyone to contribute every day."

That's the way the season started, with the Judges winning their first nine games. But since then the team has gone 4-5, losing all four of its road conference games, and winning only twice away from all season.

"Energy is a problem," forward Steve Hill '08 said. "For some reason, we keep coming out flat [on the road]."

The Maroons blitzed the Judges early in Sunday's game, shooting 54 percent from the field and 47 percent from three-point range in building a 22-point halftime lead. After forward Terrell Hollins '10 cut the Chicago lead to five with 11 minutes, 27 seconds left in the half, the Maroon went on a 21-6 run, taking a 37-17 lead with 4:51 to play.

Junior forward Nate Hainje and freshman guard Jake Pancratz hit consecutive three-pointers to start the run, and Hainje capped it with a transition layup to give Chicago the 20-point lead. The lead swelled to 29 points with 13:32 in the second half before the Judges staged a late rally to cut the lead to 12.

"They came out with a real swagger early on, and we didn't," guard Andre Roberson '10 said.

Four Maroon players scored in double figures, led by senior guard Brandon Woodhead's 18 points and 10 rebounds. Pancratz added 17 points off the bench, and Hainje finished with 15. Roberson and Small had 14 and 13 apiece for the Judges, as leading scorer Steve DeLuca '08 was held to 10 points in only 20 minutes.

Friday's loss to the conference-leading Bears followed a different script. The Judges, led by 10 points by guard Joe Coppens' '08, had the lead through most of the first half and held a 31-30 advantage going into halftime. The Bears fought back to take a 37-34 lead on senior guard Nick Nikitas' three-pointer with 16:11 remaining and never relinquished the lead. Junior forward Troy Ruths led the Bears with 20 points and 10 rebounds, while Coppens paced the Judges with 17 points.

"We played really well and had a tremendous defensive effort," Meehan said. "Quite frankly, we just didn't catch any of the breaks."

The Bears led by as many as seven points in the second half, but the Judges fought back to close to within four points with 3:30 remaining. After calling timeout, the Bears broke the pressure and set up sophomore forward Tyler Nading for a fast-break layup. DeLuca, who was trailing the play, appeared to block Nading's shot from behind, but as the Judges picked up the loose ball and started their own fast-break, the referee called a shooting foul on DeLuca. Nading converted both free throws and DeLuca, who scored his 1,000th career point in the first half, eventually fouled out of the game.

"That was a huge play, because we had numbers going the other way, and the whistle came late," Roberson said. "We could have cut that lead down to two with our momentum, so that took a lot of energy out of us."

Brandeis' defense held the Bears to under 40 percent shooting from the field, but Wash U made up those points at the free throw line, shooting 31 of 39 from the compared to only eight of 12 for the Judges. Brandeis was whistled for 27 fouls, compared to only 15 for the Bears, and starting forwards DeLuca and Hill both fouled out.

"Thirty-nine to 12 is a huge disparity, but you have to be able to overcome it," Meehan said of the free-throw attempts. "We didn't do ourselves a favor with our own free throws, and we didn't do a great job taking care of the ball."

The team will have a chance for revenge this week; the Judges host Chicago Friday at 8 p.m. and the Bears Sunday at noon.