From Washington University Athletics
Senior forward Matt Palucki tied a season-high with 28 points and senior guard David Fatoki recorded his second career double-double with 23 points and 10 assists to lead the No. 6-ranked Washington University in St. Louis men's basketball team to an 90-85 win over the University of Rochester Sunday at the WU Field House.
Washington U. improved to 13-1, 2-1 in the University Athletic Association (UAA), while Rochester lost its eighth-straight game and fell to 4-10, 0-3 in the UAA.
Palucki was 11-of-13 from the foul line as Washington U. shot 82.4 percent (14-of-17) at the charity stripe and tied a season-high point total in the win. Fatoki, who averaged 24 points and 9.5 assists per game in the two wins this weekend, added a career-high eight rebounds to nearly record the triple-double.
Sophomore guard Michael Bregman added a career-high 12 points off the bench on 4-of-5 shooting, while junior forward Mitch Styczynski added 10 points.
Washington U. shot 55.9 percent (33-59) from the field in the win, and hit 10-of-19 (52.6 percent) from three-point range. The Bears also had 22 assists in the win, its fifth game with 20 or more assists.
The Bears spread the ball around well in the opening five minutes of play as all five starters scored as Washington U. led 16-8. Fatoki ignited a 10-2 run with back-to-back threes as the Bears built a 26-17 lead with 11:26 left. The Bears connected on 9-of-12 from the field to start the contest.
Rochester scored six straight points with the starters on the bench to trim the advantage to 30-25, but Fatoki checked back in and nailed a three to end the run. Fatoki hit his first three shots from beyond the arc and finished the first half with 14 points and four rebounds.
Palucki scored the final six points of the half for Washington U. as the Bears took a 48-39 lead to half. He scored 16 points on 7-of-7 free-throw shooting to lead all scorers. Washington U. shot 58.6 percent (17-of-29) from the field in the first half, including 6-of-11 from three-point range.
The Bears struggled to take care of the ball to start the second half, and Rochester took advantage as three free-throws by Mack Montague made it a three-point game (55-52) with 14:15 to play.
Bregman came off the bench and nailed back-to-back threes to extend Washington U.'s lead to 69-63, and then freshman forward Matt Highsmith added a bucket to get the lead to eight (71-63).
The Bears led by eight with less than five minutes to play until Jared Seltzer canned back-to-back threes to make it a two-point game (81-79). Seltzer added another bucket to make it 82-81 with 2:16 to play, but that would be as close as the Yellowjackets would get.
Sam Borst-Smith had 24 points, seven rebounds and five assists, while Seltzer (16) and Montague (13) also scored in double figures. Rochester hit 12 three-pointers and had a 25-10 advantage in points off turnovers.
Washington U. continues conference play at New York University, Friday, Jan. 23, at 8 p.m. (ET), and at Brandeis University Sunday, Jan. 25, at Noon (ET).
Bear Notebook: Washington U. leads the all-time series with Rochester, 25-22, and has won four-straight meetings … The Bears are 5-0 at home this season, and have a 100-12 (.893) record since 2006 … The win for Washington U. head coach Mark Edwards was the 620th of his career … Styczynski has scored in double figure in five-straight contests … Palucki moved into a tie for seventh place in Washington U. history with 650 career rebounds and moved to 21st place with 1,083 career points.