St. Louis, Mo., February 21, 2014 – The No. 3-ranked Washington University men's basketball team extended its winning streak to 16 games with a 87-61 win over Case Western Reserve University in University Athletic Association (UAA) play Friday night at the WU Field House in St. Louis.
Senior guard Tim Cooney had the fifth double-double of his career with 15 points and 10 rebounds, while junior forward Nick Burt scored a career-best 15 points and seven boards. Senior forward Chris Klimekadded 14 points and nine rebounds and junior forward Matt Palucki had 10 points in his 50th-career start.
Washington University shot 52.9 percent (36-68) from the field and had 27 assists in the win. The Bears outrebounded Case 49-36, and had a 50-18 advantage in points in the paint.
Washington U. built a 10-2 lead three minutes into the contest as Burt and Cooney each had a pair of buckets. Senior guard Alan Aboonaconnected on the Bears' first three-pointer of the game to make it 13-5 with 16:22 left.
The Bears pushed the lead to 23-12 with an 8-0 run after back-to-back put backs by sophomore forward Brandon Staffeil and Klimek. Washington U. had an 11-0 advantage in second-chance points in the opening half.
The Bears' extended the lead to 29-16 with 7:55 to play after junior guard David Fatoki's steal and a bucket. Fatoki had six points and two steals off the bench in the opening half.
Case cut the lead to seven (36-29), but a 9-2 run by Washington U. made it 45-31 at half. Burt had 11 points and Klimek chipped in with eight in the first half. The Bears shot 52.9 percent (18-34) from the field and turned nine Case turnovers into a 9-0 advantage in points off turners.
Washington U. went on an 8-0 run to start the second half to take a commanding 53-31 lead. Later in the half, Palucki's jumper gave the Bears a 26-point lead at 65-39 with 12:18 to play.
Dane McLoughlin led Case Western Reserve (13-10, 5-7 UAA) with 13 points, while Julien Person added 10 points. David Thompson chipped in with six points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Case shot 31.9 percent (22-69) from the field hit 10-of-38 three-pointers.
Washington U. (21-2, 12-0 UAA) takes on Carnegie Mellon University Sunday, Feb. 23, at Noon in the final regular-season home game. Prior to Sunday's tip, the Bears will honor their five seniors and manager Adam Lowenstein as part of Senior Day festivities.
Bear Notebook: Washington U. leads the all-time series with Case Western Reserve, 40-4, and the Bears have won the last 19 meetings … The win was the 75th for the Class of 2014 … Washington U. is 13-0 at home … The 16-game win streak is tied for the third longest win streak in school history … The Bears are 12-0 in UAA play for the fifth time in school history – and first since 2008-09 … Klimek passed Bud Cristal into 20th place on the all-time scoring list with 1,076 points … Aboona had five points and seven assists in the win and is 38 points shy of becoming the 22nd member of 1,000-point club … Cooney had two steals and moved into a tie for eighth in school history with 139.