From Washington University Athletics
The No. 11-ranked Washington University in St. Louis men's basketball team broke open a three-point game midway through the second half with a 14-0 run as the Bears posted a 98-68 win at Fontbonne University Tuesday in the Wydown Showdown.
WashU's bench scored 11 of the 14 points during the decisive run, including five points by sophomore guard Matt Nester and freshman guard Jack Nolan. Nester finished with a career-high 11 points, four assists and four rebounds in 19 minutes off the bench.
The Bears scored 58 points on 10-of-18 three-point shooting in the second half. WashU shot a season-high 56.7 percent (38-of-67) from the field for the game, and had a season-high 28 assists and just eight turnovers.
Senior forward Andrew Sanders had a game-high 17 points and eight rebounds, while senior forward Matt Highsmith added 13 points and junior forward Jack Wiernicki had a career-best 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting in nine minutes played.
Nolan and sophomore center Hank Hunter also added 10 points in the win. The 10 points for Hunter was a career-high.
WashU improved to 7-1 with the win, while Fontbonne dropped to 2-7.
Fontbonne jumped out in front 15-10 in the opening five minutes of play, but a 6-0 run by WashU gave the Bears a 16-15 lead.
The Griffins answered with six-straight points, but WashU fought back with an 11-2 run. Sanders scored on a fast-break lay-up on an assist from Nester to take the 27-23 lead and force a Fontbonne timeout.
Sanders had 14 points and eight rebounds in the opening half as WashU led 40-36. The Bears shot 54.5 percent (18-of-33) from the field in the first half.
Senior guard Kevin Kucera drilled a three-pointer to give WashU a 55-46 advantage, but six straight points by the Griffins made it a three-point game. Nolan answered with a wing three, and then Nester drilled a three and a pull-up in the lane to extend the advantage to 63-56.
Luke DeLine (17) and Kris McCann (16) scored in double figures for Fontbonne, who shot 46.6 percent (27-of-58) from the field but committed 20 turnovers.
WashU closes out a two-game road trip at Illinois Wesleyan University (7-1, 2-1 CCIW) on Sunday, Dec. 17, at 3 p.m.
BEAR NOTEBOOK
• WashU is 18-1 all-time against Fontbonne, and has won the last 16 meetings.
• Sanders is 31 points shy of 1,000 for his career.
• Head coach Mark Edwards picked up career win number 670.
• The Bears played their 2,200th game in program history.
• Play-by-play announcer Jay Murry broadcasted the 500th game of his career.
• WashU's bench outscored Fontbonne 51-23.
• Kucera had five assists and moved past Scott Stone (2002-06) into sixth in school history (362).