WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Catholic University men's basketball team opened the 2023 Holiday Classic with a come-from-behind victory over Wabash on Tuesday evening. Sophomore CJ Ruoff was the star of the show, dropping a career-high 18 points to lead Catholic to a 14-point victory over the Little Giants in a game that was closer than the final score indicates.

Ruoff put together as close to a perfect game as possible, not missing a single shot on the evening. He produced a flawless 7-for-7 performance from the floor and added two made free throws while also grabbing four rebounds. The sophomore did not commit a turnover and also adding a block and an assist to his stat line.

The Little Giants came out firing, canning an impressive eight of their first 12 attempts from beyond the three-point line. This pushed Wabash out to a 14-point lead just after midway through the opening stanza, forcing head coach Aaron Kelly to use a timeout. 

Catholic was able to respond following the timeout to close the gap. Brian Herbert and Dan Buckley delivered back-to-back buckets after the stoppage to ignite the Cardinal push that brought the teams even at 38 at the halftime break.

The Cardinals began the second half the more energized of the two teams, beginning the second stanza on a 7-0 run. Catholic ballooned the lead to as many as 16 with seven-and-a-half minutes remaining in the game but Wabash responded with back-to-back-to-back threes on three straight possessions to cut the lead to seven and force another Catholic timeout. However, Buckley set up Jesse Hafemeister for a big three out of said timeout to return the margin to double digits before the Little Giants were unable to string together any sustained defensive success down the stretch and never got within seven points.

Hafemeister produced a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds while also handing out three assists, registering two blocks and forcing two steals. All five of Catholic's starters shot 50 percent or higher from the field.

It was a major contrast of styles as Wabash attempted 39 threes, shooting at a 41 percent clip from deep, whereas Catholic only attempted eight (5-for-8). After Wabash's blistering 8-for-12 start from deep, Catholic turned up the defensive intensity and held the Little Giants to just 8-for-27 from deep.

Catholic instead looked to produced quality looks near the rim through a combination of drives and passes. Coach Kelly's team had success in this regard, outsourcing Wabash at a staggering 50-15 clip inside the painted area.

With the victory, Catholic improves to 8-2 on the season ahead of its final game of 2023 tomorrow. The Cardinals will host Roanoke at 4 p.m. to conclude this year's edition of the Holiday Tournament while Wabash will look to bounce back against Eastern in the first game of the day at 2 p.m.