From Washington University Athletics
Senior forward Chris Klimek scored a team-high 25 points to lead four Bears in double figures as the No. 7-ranked Washington University in St. Louis men's basketball team posted an 82-72 conference win over Brandeis University Friday night at the WU Field House in St. Louis.
Washington U. improved to 11-2, 2-0 in the University Athletic Association (UAA), while Brandeis falls to 8-5, 0-2 in the UAA. The Bears close out a five-game home stand against New York University Sunday, Jan. 19, at Noon. Chicago snapped New York's five-game winning streak with a 58-50 win Friday in the Windy City.
Klimek was 10-of-18 from the field and 5-of-10 from the foul line in the win as he eclipsed 20 points for the third time this season and 10th time in his career. Senior guard Alan Aboona (17 points), senior guard Tim Cooney (15 points, seven assists) and junior forward Matt Palucki (10 points) also scored in double figures for Washington U.
The Bears who shot 48.1 percent (25-52) from the field and hit a season-high 26-of-35 free-throws in the win. WUSTL also outrebounded Brandeis, 37-30, and had a 14-4 advantage in second-chance points.
Klimek scored five of the first seven points of the game as Washington U. built a 7-0 advantage three minutes into the contest. The Bears led 13-8 when Derek Retos canned a three-pointer and Gabriel Moton followed with back-to-back buckets to give Brandeis its first lead of the game at 15-13 with 10:36 to play.
Washington U. regained the lead with a 14-0 run to take a 27-15 lead, highlighted by a three-pointer by sophomore guard Luke Silverman-Lloyd and four points by senior forward Jordan Rapp. The Bears took their largest lead of the first half at 31-16 with 3:09 left when Rapp scored on a put-back. Rapp had six points and five rebounds in eight minutes off the bench.
Washington U. took a 33-22 lead to the locker room after limiting Brandeis to 26.9 percent (7-26) shooting in the opening half. The Judges hit just 2-of-12 from three-point range, and had one bucket in the final 10 minutes. Klimek led all scorers with 15 points on 7-of-13 shooting, while Cooney added seven points. The Bears had a 9-0 advantage in second-chance points.
Brandeis opened the second half by scoring the first five points to get the lead down to five (33-27). Klimek scored four-straight points and junior forward Nick Burt added a pair of free-throws to get the advantage to nine. Burt was limited to two points but tied a career-high with nine rebounds.
Aboona caught fire in the second half and his three-pointer got the lead into double figures at 53-40. He hit another triple to push the lead to 58-42, and then five-straight points by Washington U. got the lead back to 20 at 66-46 with 9:44 to play.
Moton led all scorers with 27 points on 9-of-16 shooting, including 4-of-9 from three-point range. Brandeis shot 55.9 percent (19-34) in the second half, including 7-of-14 from beyond the arc.