ST. LOUIS, Mo. – For the third year in a row, the No. 14 Washington University in St. Louis men's basketball team is headed to the Sweet 16. The Bears defeated UW-Whitewater 74-71 on Saturday evening in the Round of 32 to advance to the Sweet 16 for the 11^th time in program history. The Bears are now 20-7 on the year.
 
Earlier in the day, the women's team also earned a trip to the Sweet 16. It is the first time since 2009 that both teams have reached the Sweet 16 in the same year.
 
Sophomore Connor May led all scorers with 29 points and nine rebounds. Sophomore Anthony Przybilla scored 14 points with four rebounds and first-year Josh Kim had 11 points and a game-high five assists.
 
May, who netted 17 points in the first half, scored the first points of the game on a 3-pointer. After UW-Whitewater's first layup, WashU had four-straight from senior Calvin Kapral and May for a 7-2 edge at the 18:00 mark.
 
With back-to-back buckets, the Warhawks took a 9-8 lead with 15:20 but the Bears quickly snagged in back on a layup from Kim. UWW hit a 3-pointer to take another lead but a May layup 20 seconds later made it a 12-12 game.
 
The Warhawks took their biggest lead of the half, four points, following two-straight 3-pointers for an 18-14 lead at 11:59.
 
The teams would go on to exchange baskets and leads over the next several minutes. The Bears took the lead back with a 3-pointer from May at 7:18 and May put in the next three points for the Bears on a free throw and a layup for a 30-25 advantage with 6:28 on the clock.
 
Another four-straight points from Przybilla and Kapral extended WashU's lead to seven, 34-27, with just over five minutes remaining.
 
The Warhawks scored before Przybilla and junior Ryan Cohen each hit layups, giving the Bears their largest lead of the half, nine points, 38-29 with 2:51 left in the first half. Kim put in the final bucket before halftime, sending the Bears into the break leading 40-31.
 
WashU opened the second half with layups from Kim and May for a 13-point, 44-31 lead.
 
UWW responded with a 6-0 run to cut the Bears' lead to seven, 44-37. Kim quickly answered with a layup to extend it back to nine points.
 
With the Bears up seven, 57-50, midway through the half, UWW's Collin Madson hit back-to-back 3-pointers to make it a one-point, 57-56 game.
 
WashU called a timeout to stop the momentum and came out of the break to score seven in a row, starting with a 3-pointer from May. Przybilla slammed one home and first-year Theo Rocca put in a layup to put the Bears ahead 64-56.
 
The Bears extended their lead to nine points, 68-59 with just under five minutes remaining on a layup from Kim. UWW answered with four in a row and, following an offensive putback from May, scored six-straight points to close WashU's lead to 70-69 with 1:54 remaining.
 
Przybilla put in a layup coming out of the final media time out, but UWW's Richie Warren hit a jumper to keep it at a one-point game in entering the final minute.
 
Przybilla netted a pair of free throws with 32 seconds remaining for the final points of the game and the Bears stopped the final game-tying 3-pointer to hold on to the win.
 
WashU shot 30-for-59 (50.8%) with a 7-for-16 (43.8%) clip from 3-point range. The Bears edged UWW on the boards 37-27.
 
The Bears will play No. 3 St. Thomas (TX) in the Sweet 16 at a time and location still being determined. WashU beat St. Thomas (TX) 54-53 on Nov. 15 in the Lopata Championship, which is the lone loss that the Celts have this season.
 
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