UChicago men's basketball knocks off No. 1-WashU 63-43

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CHICAGO, Ill. – Solid defending and rebounding propelled the University of Chicago men's basketball team to a 63-43 victory over No. 1-ranked Washington University-St. Louis on Saturday.

The Maroons (9-3, 1-0 UAA) won their fourth-straight game and sent the Bears (11-1, 0-1 UAA) to their first loss of the season. UChicago last win against WashU to open the conference schedule came on Jan. 5, 2013 by a score of 68-60.

Alex Voss got the home team off to a good start when the junior forward sank a pair of three-pointers to open the action. He made another jumper to make the score 12-8, giving him eight points in the first five minutes. Freshman guard Jake Fenlon kick started a 10-0 run with a three-pointer of his own and sophomore forward Blaine Crawford followed up by throwing down a dunk in transition at 17-10. Sophomore guard Tyler Howard joined in with a layup while drawing a foul to complete the and-one opportunity.

UChicago played tough defense throughout the game. The Maroons bodied up their assignments and forced plenty of off-balance and contested jumpers. The forwards also worked hard to keep the opposing post players from getting easy looks at the hoop.

The home team headed into halftime with a 33-17 lead. The Bears were held to 23.5 percent shooting from the field. The Maroons made 43.8 percent of their shots, led by Voss with 10 points.

WashU came out in the second half looking to pound the ball in the paint to get high-percentage chances. But any early momentum was stuffed by junior guard Jordan Smith, who nailed a three at the top of the key at 40-25. From that point on, the Maroons kept the lead comfortably between 15 and 25 points.

UChicago hit an offensive funk during the second half thanks to good WashU defense. The Bears contested or blocked many forays into the paint. The visitors ended up with six blocked shots on the afternoon. But the Maroons continued to play stout defense and found another gear on the glass. Freshman forward Collin Barthel was all over the boards with authority, pulling down a career-best 15 rebounds. It marked the most rebounds by a Maroon since Sam Gage snagged 15 rebounds versus Kalamazoo College on Dec. 1, 2013.

Voss swished another three-pointer in the corner at 50-31 and sophomore forward Waller Perez made one of his own at 57-36. Voss ended up making four of his five attempts from beyond the arc.

UChicago won the rebounding category (51-42) for the 10th time this year. The team currently owns a rebounding margin of +10.2 per game. WashU turned the ball over 11 times and UChicago had 13 turnovers. Howard accounted for nine of the team's 15 assists.

UChicago Team Stats & Leaders
Field-goal Percentage – 38.3 percent (23-60)
Three-point Percentage – 42.1 percent (8-19)
Free-throw Percentage – 47.4 percent (9-19)
Alex Voss (Forward, Jr.) – 16 points, 5 rebounds
Collin Barthel (Forward, Fr.) – 5 points, 15 rebounds
Tyler Howard (Guard, So.) – 11 points, 9 assists

Washington-St. Louis Team Stats & Leaders
Field-goal Percentage – 30.3 percent (20-66)
Three-point Percentage – 10.5 percent (2-19)
Free-throw Percentage – 16.7 percent (1-6)
Mitch Styczynski – 12 points, 4 rebounds
Nick Burt – 9 points, 10 rebounds

NEXT GAME:

  • Friday, January 16 – University of Rochester at UChicago, 8 PM