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LA CROSSE, Wis. – The No. 17 Washington University in St. Louis men's basketball team is Final Four bound for the first time since 2009 and the fourth time in program history after knocking off No. 5 UW-La Crosse on Saturday evening, 80-66.

The Bears will match up against UAA foe No. 1 NYU on Thursday, March 20 at 8 p.m. ET at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Ind. Tickets go on sale on Monday, March 17 at 10 a.m. ET HERE. Bears' fans can use the code EDWARDS to unlock WashU's block of fan seating.

Senior Drake Kindsvater poured in a career-high performance of 31 points and 16 rebounds. First-year Connor May had 12 points with four rebounds while sophomore Ryan Cohen netted 11 points. Sophomore Jake Davis pulled down 11 boards, and senior Hayden Doyle scored nine points with three rebounds and three assists.

La Crosse's Will Fuhrmann hit back-to-back 3-pointers to open the game for the Eagles. Cohen responded with a shot from distance for a 6-3 game at 17:46.
Following a La Crosse layup, junior Will Grudzinski hit a 3-pointer and Doyle stole the ball for a layup to tie the game, 8-8, at 16:41.

The Eagles put in a layup and junior Calvin Kapral hit a jumper to keep the game tied, 10-10. UW-La Crosse scored the next five points, taking a 15-10 lead with 13:12 remaining in the first half.

The teams exchanged baskets over the next minute and a half. The Bears cut the lead to three points on a layup from sophomore Jake Davis, making it a 17-14 game at 11:45. The Eagles netted the next four points for a 21-14 game midway through the first half.

Down seven, the Bears went on a 6-0 run to make it a one-point game, 21-20. Kindsvater scored all six points, starting with a pair of free throws, followed by a layup and adding another two free throws.

At 8:12, down by three points, May hit a driving layup and Kindsvater put in a bucket to give WashU a 24-23 lead. May added another layup to put the Bears ahead, 26-23.

UW-La Crosse hit a jumper to bring it back to a one-point game before Grudzinski laid one in for a 28-25 lead at 5:50. A jumper from Kindsvater gave WashU a five-point, 30-25 edge at 4:38.

The Eagles scored a bucket before Kindsvater converted an and-one play to go up by six points, 33-27, at 3:39. UW-La Crosse's Dustin Derousseau hit a 3-pointer and Kindsvater followed with a layup.

With the Bears up by five, the Eagles closed out the first half on an 8-0 run to go into halftime with a 38-35 lead over WashU.

Kindsvater scored the first points of the second half to make it a one-point game, 38-37. The Bears took their first lead of the half following a fast-break layup from Kindsvater, making it a 45-44 game with 13:43 remaining.

UW-La Crosse tied it at 48 apiece with 12:57 on the clock. May responded with a steal and a 3-pointer. The Eagles' Sam Grieger put in a layup before the Bears scored five straight on a 3-pointer from Kindsvater and a pair of free throws from junior Yogi Oliff.

Following another layup from Grieger for the Eagles, Doyle hit a 3-pointer and Oliff grabbed the ball off a May block to take it the other way for a layup. May put in a bucket at 9:09 to give the Bears a double-digit, 63-52 lead.

The Eagles netted a pair of free throws, but Kindsvater had an offensive putback and May hit a 3-pointer to extend WashU's lead to 68-54 with 6:38 remaining.
As the clock ticked down, the Bears maintained a double-digit lead the entire time, with the Eagles closing it to 10 with 1:01 remaining.

As a team, the Bears shot 28-for-65 (43.1%) and 8-for-24 (33.3%) from 3-point range. WashU edged UW-La Crosse 43-34 on the boards.