ST. LOUIS, Mo. – The No. 24 Washington University in St. Louis men's basketball team had a big win over No. 4 Chicago to close out the regular season on Saturday afternoon. The Bears came out firing on all cylinders en route to the 82-73 win. WashU finishes the regular-season slate at 18-7 overall and 8-6 in UAA play.
Prior to the game, WashU honored its three seniors -
Will Grudzinski,
Calvin Kapral and
Yogi Oliff.
First-year
Josh Kim led the Bears with 17 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Junior
George Gale netted a career-high 16 points with five rebounds. First-year
Theo Rocca scored 14 points, grabbed six rebounds and had three steals. Sophomore
Connor May had 14 points, six rebounds and two assists.
May hit the first bucket of the game and Chicago tied things up quickly. Kim put in a layup and Oliff had a steal and a layup to put the Bears up 6-2 at 17:46.
Chicago pulled within one point, 8-7, before Kapral hit a layup and Gale had an offensive putback. Kim put in a layup for a 14-7 lead at 13:38.
Following a Maroon's bucket, sophomore
Anthony Przybilla scored back-to-back buckets for a double-digit, 18-8 lead with 11:48 on the clock.
After a Chicago basket, the Bears went on an 8-0 run starting with a 3-pointer from Rocca. May put in a layup and followed with a steal, hitting Rocca for the fastbreak layup. Junior
Ryan Cohen closed out the run with a free throw for a 26-10 lead a 8:11.
With a layup from May and a 3-pointer from Cohen with 6:13 remaining, the Bears took their largest lead of the half, 18 points, leading 33-15. Chicago brought the Bears' lead down to 11 with 1:11 left but Rocca hit a shot from distance for a 42-38 lead at the half.
Kim hit the first bucket of the second half, was fouled and put in the ensuing free throw. Cohen followed with a 3-pointer and Kim drilled a shot from distance to put the Bears ahead 51-28, the largest lead of the game.
The Bears maintained a near-20 point lead until midway through the half. A layup from Chicago's Daniel Cochran closed it to 12 points, 63-51, with 9:39 on the clock. Another Chicago jumper made it a 10-point game and the Maroons made it a single-digit game following a pair of free throws from Joe Berry. Another pair of free throws from Nick Roper made it a 64-57 game with 5:28 remaining.
Kim answered with a jumper and May put in a pair of free throws to extend it back to double-digits, 68-57.
As the clock ticked down, the Bears went up by as many as 13 points following a layup from Oliff at 1:05. The Maroons made it a seven-point game with nine seconds remaining but the Bears closed it out with a pair of free throws from Rocca for the nine-point, 82-73 win.
As a team, the Bears shot 29-for-55 (52.7%) with a 5-for-16 (31.3%) clip from 3-point range. WashU edged the Maroons on the boards 31-28.
WashU will now await its fate for the NCAA Tournament, which will begin next weekend. The selection who will be on NCAA.com at 12 p.m.
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Elevating scholar-champions requires resources beyond the institutional budget. Through the W Club, generous alumni, parents, and friends provide unrestricted support that is essential to the extraordinary WashU student-athlete experience—and the ongoing growth and development of the department. Annual support for Athletics allows the Bears to consistently rise to national levels of competition and ensures that our student-athletes enjoy exceptional opportunities as they train, compete, and lead. To make a gift to the Annual Fund for Athletics, please visit our secure online giving form or contact the Athletics Advancement Office at athletics@wustl.edu.
