From Washington University Athletics
Senior Clinton Hooks hit the game-winning shot as time expired as the No. 24-ranked Washington University in St. Louis men's basketball team won its University Athletic Association (UAA) opener 70-68 at the University of Chicago Saturday.
After junior Jake Knupp missed a lay-up with three seconds left, Hooks got the rebound and fired up a shot that was goaltended at the buzzer by Blaine Crawford giving WashU the two-point victory.
WashU improved its overall record to 9-3, 1-0 in the conference, while Chicago dropped to 8-4, 0-1 in the UAA.
Hooks tied his season-high with 19 points on 5-of-8 shooting from three-point range, while Knupp added 12 and junior Andrew Sanders chipped in with 10.
The Bears shot 42.9 percent (27-63) from the field and tied a season-high with 10 three-pointers. WashU also had 19 assists on 27 field goals, and turned it over just nine times in the win.
Bregman had the hot hand early in the contest scoring seven of the first 14 points for the Bears as WashU led 14-7. Knupp canned a three-pointer to make it 17-10 as the Bears hit 3-of-4 from beyond the arc to start the game.
Hooks drilled his second three-pointer of the game with 10:17 to play to extend the WashU advantage to 24-12 and force a full timeout by Chicago.
The Maroons got the lead down to two (28-26) with a 14-4 run, but junior Matt Highsmith drove baseline and threw home a one-handed dunk to stop the skid. Chicago scored the final five points of the half, including a three-pointer by Jordan Baum with 34 seconds left to give the Maroons a 36-35 lead at half.
Sanders had eight points to lead the Bears, who shot 41.2 percent (14-34) from the field and hit 5-of-10 from three-point range,
Hooks canned a pair of threes in the opening three minutes of the second half as Chicago held onto a 42-41 lead. Back-to-back jumpers by Highsmith gave WashU a 55-51 lead with 8:07 to play and capped an 8-2 run. Highsmith finished with eight points, five rebounds and a career-high four assists.
Trailing by one with less than eight minutes left, WashU went on an 11-2 run to gain a 66-58 advantage. Knupp drained threes on back-to-back possessions, and then Hooks canned a three from the corner.
Junior Kevin Kucera nailed two free-throws with 26.2 seconds left to give WashU the 68-65 lead, and then Noah Karras tied the game with 12 seconds left on a three from the wing.
Waller Perez led Chicago with 16 points, while Karras added 13 and Blaine Crawford had 12. The Maroons shot 46.6 percent (27-58) from the field in the loss and hit nine threes.
WashU closes out a five-game road trip with a pair of conference games at Emory University (9-3, 0-1 UAA) on Friday, Jan. 13 and at No. 4 University of Rochester (12-0, 1-0 UAA) on Sunday, Jan. 15.
BEAR NOTEBOOK: WashU leads the all-time series with Chicago, 50-20, and the Bears have won the last two meetings … The Bears are 20-10 all-time in UAA openers … Hooks went over 500 points in his career … Sanders has scored in double figures in 11 of 12 games played … Kucera had a game-high seven assists, his seventh game this season with seven or more assists.