It was a scenario the No. 2-ranked men's basketball team had seen so many times this season. Despite having to use its reserves early with multiple starters getting in foul trouble, Brandeis was able to battle back on the road against No. 1-ranked University of Rochester last Sunday, going on a late 10-2 run to cut a 10-point deficit to 65-63 with one minute, five seconds remaining. This time, however, the Judges were uncharacteristically unable to make the necessary plays down the stretch, and their bid for a second upset over a top-ranked opponent this season fell short, as they lost 74-68. With the defeat, Brandeis fell to 12-2 on the season and 2-1 in University Athletic Association play after a 60-48 win over No. 24 Carnegie Mellon University last Friday.

"[In] every close game down the stretch we've made the right plays and ended up winning the games. Today was a different story," guard Joe Coppens '08 said. "[The loss] really hurts because it was the No. 1 team in the country on their home floor, and it would have been a big, big win for us. It's a tough pill to swallow."

The game marked just the second No. 1 against No. 2 matchup in the history of the d3hoops.com Top 25 Poll.

Wittenburg College and Wooster College were the top two teams in the poll when they squared off in February of 2006.

Brandeis had defeated previous No. 1 Amherst College Dec. 8, when the Judges were ranked No. 3.

After a slow offensive start, Rochester built a 40-32 halftime lead, converting on 13 of their last 15 field goal attempts. The Judges rallied early in the second half, cutting the Rochester lead to 49-48 with 12:23 to play.

At that point, Rochester implemented a 3-2 zone defense that held the Judges to just five points over the next 9:42.

Without the outside shooting of injured star forward Steve DeLuca '08, coach Brian Meehan said the Judges were not able to stretch the Rochester zone.

"One of the problems we have without DeLuca being out there is that we don't have a perimeter big man," he said. "That was an issue for us and we'll straighten that out this week in case we see [the 3-2 zone] again down the road."

With less than three minutes remaining, Brandeis, aided by three-pointers from guard Andre Roberson '10 and Coppens, climbed back to within two points in the final minute.

On the ensuing possession, Rochester senior guard Jeff Juron hit a layup and drew the foul, and after starting the game nine for 18 from the free throw line, the Yellowjackets hit their final 10 attempts to hold on for the win.

Despite the loss, Coppens didn't see a reason for panic.

"[The Rochester game proved] we can hang in there with any team in the entire country," he said.

"It doesn't matter if we're playing bad or playing great-we can beat anybody that is put in front of us. We just have to make smart plays at the end of the game, and we didn't today."

Starting forwards Stephen Hill '08 and Terrell Hollins '10 picked up two fouls apiece by the ninth minute of play, forcing Meehan to go to his bench.

Hill and Hollins were limited to just eight combined minutes of action in the first half, while reserve forwards Christian Yemga '11, Napoleon Lherrison '11 and Rich McGee '10 combined for 33.

Although he was impressed with Yemga and Lherrison's play, Meehan said he ideally would have liked to stick with his veterans against a team of Rochester's caliber.

"We need our older guys to play well and stay in the game," Meehan said. "We don't want to have freshmen playing those types of minutes. They're still learning and you don't want them learning in pressure situations."

Hollins leads the team in scoring, averaging 14.9 points per game, but was held without a field goal until the final seconds and finished with a season-low three points.

"[Rochester's defense] wasn't different from anything else that I've seen," Hollins said. "For some reason I lost some aggressiveness."

Despite the loss, the Judges were able to pick up a conference road victory last Friday at No. 24 Carnegie Mellon. After the Judges jumped out to a 35-20 halftime lead, the Tartans were able to reduce the deficit to 38-34 early in the second half.

Brandeis held off the comeback effort, going on a 19-7 run en route to a 60-48 win.

The Judges will have another chance to knock off Rochester when the two teams meet in Waltham Feb. 15, but until then, the Judges must navigate through a typically difficult UAA schedule.

"I can't wait," Coppens said regarding a rematch with the Yellowjackets.

"But, we have to take that one game at a time mentality. We have Chicago coming up on Friday, so we'll focus on them first."

The Judges return home for the first time this semester with UAA games against the University of Chicago Friday at 8 p.m. and No. 5 Washington University in St. Louis Sunday at noon.