From Washington University Athletics
The Washington University in St. Louis men's basketball team advanced to the championship game of the 32nd Annual Lopata Classic with an 87-65 win over Pomona-Pitzer Colleges Friday night at the WU Field House in St. Louis.
WashU improved to 2-0, while Pomona-Pitzer fell to 0-1. The Bears take on Johns Hopkins University in the Lopata Classic championship game Saturday at 8 p.m. Johns Hopkins defeated DePauw University 82-74 in the opening game.
Sophomore guard Jake Knupp had a career-high 16 points and four assists off the bench, hitting 4-of-7 from three-point range. Junior guard Michael Bregman also had a career-high with 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the field and 4-of-4 from the foul line. WashU's bench outscored Pomona-Pitzer 50-23.
Sophomore guard Matt Highsmith added 10 points, four boards and three steals off the bench, while sophomore guard Kevin Kucera had a career-high 10 points, six assists and five steals.
Pomona canned a pair of three-pointers in the opening 1:10 to build an early lead at 6-1, but that would be the Sagehens largest lead of the night. WashU went on a 20-2 run to take a double digit lead at 21-8 with 11:26 left in the half.
Sam Glazer drilled a three-pointer to get the WashU lead down to seven (25-18), but the Bears responded with a 14-0 run. Bregman scored on a slashing lay-up to cap the run as the Bears took their largest lead of the half at 39-18 with 4:41 to play.
Highsmith had 10 points off the bench in the opening half as WashU shot 59.3 percent (16-of-27) from the field. The Bears had six blocks and eight steals in the opening half, and had a 17-0 advantage in points off turnovers.
Knupp came off the bench in the second half and drilled three from beyond the arc in a span of 1:48. Knupp's third three-pointer highlighted an 8-0 run as WashU built a 68-41 lead with 11:04 to play.
WashU shot 51.9 percent (27-of-52) from the field in the win, and hit 10-of-24 from three-point range from beyond the arc. The Bears had a season-high 10 blocks and 15 steals, and had a 30-8 advantage in points off turnovers.
Corbin Koch led Pomona-Pitzer with 22 points on four three-pointers. The Stagehens outrebounded WashU 46-31, and had 22 offensive rebounds.
BEAR NOTEBOOK: WashU leads the all-time series with Pomona Pitzer, 8-3, and the Bears have won five-straight meetings … The Bears have won 33-straight games in the Lopata Classic.