Rochester, N.Y., February 3, 2012 – Senior Dylan Richter scored 20 points and joined the 1,000th point club as the No. 25 Washington University in St. Louis men's basketball team dropped a 94-84 decision at the University of Rochester on Friday night at the Palestra in Rochester, N.Y.
Richter's three-pointer with 1:15 to play cut the Rochester lead to 88-80, and elevated him over the 1,000 point total. He has scored 1,002 points in his four-year career, becoming the 20th player in school history to achieve the feat.
Klimek added a career-best 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting from the field, while freshman Matt Palucki had nine points and junior Max Needlechipped in with a season-high eight points in five minutes off the bench. The Bears shot 57.4 percent (31-54) from the field and hit 10-of-22 from three-point range. Washington U. also outrebounded Rochester, 27-18, and had a 17-5 advantage in second-chance points.
Washington U. hit its first 7-of-10 from the field, and back-to-back three-pointers from Palucki and Richter gave the Bears an early 16-13 advantage. But it was the outside shooting of Rochester that was the difference, as the Yellowjackets next five buckets were from beyond the three-point arc en route to a 27-16 lead with 7:53 remaining.
Klimek kept Washington U. close with a five-straight points to get the lead down to six (27-21), but the Bears could not cool off Rochester from three-point range. Nine of the last 13 buckets by the Yellowjackets in the first half were from beyond the arc, and that resulted in a 45-34 lead for the Yellowjackets.
Rochester hit 9-of-14 (64.3 percent) from three-point range in the opening half, and turned the ball over just two times. John DiBartolomeo had 12 points and five assists in the first half for Rochester, while Kevin Sheehy and Nate Vernon added nine points on three three-pointers each.
Klimek had 13 points and Richter added nine for Washington U., who shot 53.8 percent (14-26) in the first half but turned the ball over nine times. The Yellowjackets had a 15-4 advantage in points off turnovers in the opening 20 minutes.
Vernon nailed a pair of three's to open the second half, and then a triple by DiBartolomeo pushed the advantage to 59-42. A pair of free-throws by Marcus Williams made it 66-46, giving Rochester its largest lead of the game with 13:05 to play.
Rochester (12-7, 3-5 UAA) had a 17-point lead with 10:35 to play before Washington U. mounted its comeback. Three-pointers by Needle and freshman Brayden Teuscher trimmed the lead to 13 (74-61), and then back-to-back three's from Klimek and Richter got the lead to single digits (80-71). After a defensive stop, Richter nailed another three to get the lead down to six (80-74) with 5:32 to play.
That would be as close as Washington U. would get, as DiBartolomeo would nail all eight of his free-throws in the final 2:20 to seal the victory for the Yellowjackets. DiBartolomeo, the reigning UAA Player of the Year, finished with 27 points and eight assists.
Vernon added 19 points, Nate Novosel (11 points), Sheehy (11 points) and Rob Reid (10 points) also scored in double figures. Rochester shot 59.2 percent (29-49) from the field and hit 12 three-pointers. The Yellowjackets had 18 assists and just seven turnovers in the win, and had a 27-10 advantage in points off turnovers.
Washington University (14-5, 6-2 UAA) concludes its two-game road trip at No. 17 ranked Emory University on Sunday, Feb. 5. Game time is set for Noon (ET), in Atlanta, Ga.
Bear Notebook: Washington U. leads the all-time series with 31-21 … Richter upped his career three-point total to 133, two shy of 10th place all-time … The Bears have outrebounded 15 of their 19 opponents … Washington U. and New York are tied for the UAA lead with a 6-2 record.