Box Score Memphis, Tenn., November 28, 2021 – The No. 18 Washington University in St. Louis men's basketball team defeated Rhodes 78-57 to win the Rhodes Thanksgiving Tournament and its fourth game in a row.
The Bears are now 5-1 on the year as they head home to host the 37th Annual Lopata Classic next weekend.
Following a slow start for both teams, a Jack Nolan jumper just over five minutes in gave the Bears a 5-4 edge. Back-to-back 3-pointers from Rhodes' Jalen Essick put Rhodes up 10-5, the biggest lead of the game at that point, on either side.
Another Essick 3-pointer extended the Lynx lead to 13-7 before WashU went on an 18-0 run to regain a lead.
Kevin Davet started with a pair of free throws, followed by a Nolan jumper. A 3-pointer from Justin Hardy, another bucket from Nolan and a layup from Drake Kindsvater gave the Bears am 18-13 lead with 8:29 on the clock, forcing a Rhodes timeout.
After the break, WashU continued the run, starting with a shot from behind the arc from Matt Gonzalo and a jumper from Nolan. A layup from Hardy closed out the run with the Bears on top 25-13 with just over five minutes remaining in the first half.
The Bears went on another 7-0 run to stretch their lead to 31-15. David Windley started things off with a jumper, Doyle added a layup and Nolan finished with a jumper.
Back-to-back 3-pointers from Nolan and Doyle extended WashU's lead to 37-19 with just over one minute left to play and Davet closed out the half with an offensive putback.
After the halftime break, WashU continued to build on its lead, never letting up.
A layup from Nolan to open the second half gave the Bears a 20-point, 41-21 lead.
The Bears and Rhodes spent much of the second half exchanging baskets. WashU gained a little bit of momentum as Hardy put in a layup and Doyle netted a 3-pointer to extend the Bears' lead to 58-34 with 9:04 remaining.
Following a Lynx score, Nolan and Hardy each hit 3-pointers, putting WashU up 64-36 with 7:52 left.
In the span of less than two minutes, Rhodes went on to outscore the Bears 9-3 to cut into WashU's lead, 67-45. Gonzalo, however, ended that run with a 3-pointer for WashU and Nolan followed that up with another 3-pointer to give WashU a 73-45 edge with 4:27 left.
Although Rhodes cut things down to 76-55, the Bears shut any runs down for the remaining 2:26 en route to the win.
As a team, WashU shot 29-for-55 (52.7%) and 13-for-27 (48.1%) from 3-point range. The Bears outrebounded Rhodes 42-21.
Three WashU players reached double-figures, led by 23 points from Nolan to lead all scorers. Doyle had a career day with 15 points and eight rebounds while Hardy scored 14 points to go with seven rebounds and seven assists.
The Bears host Hendrix on Friday, Dec. 3 at 5:30 p.m. to open the 37th Annual Lopata Classic.
