St. Louis, Mo., November 15, 2011 – The Washington University in St. Louis men's basketball team opened the 2011-12 season with a 91-64 victory at home over MacMurray College on Tuesday night at the WU Field House in St. Louis.
Senior Dylan Richter led all scorers with 24 points on 9-of-15 shooting, while freshman Brayden Teuscher added 17 points, five assists and five steals in his collegiate debut. Sophomore Chris Klimek also added 12 second-half points on 5-of-7 shooting after missing his rookie season with an injury.
Washington University shot 49.3 percent (34-69) from the field in the win, and hit 17-of-22 (77.3%) from the foul line. The Bears outscored MacMurray 22-2 in fast break points and had a 21-6 advantage in second-chance points.
Washington U. settled for the outside shot early in the contest, missing its first four three-pointers, and trailed 10-5 in the opening five minutes of play. A three-pointer by Clint Lee from the top of the key gave MacMurray its largest lead of the game at 15-9 with 12:50 left.
Richter caught fire midway through the first half, and his fast break lay-up with 10:32 remaining gave the Bears an 18-17 lead. Teuscher capped the 11-0 run with a lay-up to make it 23-17. The Bears were not done yet, as back-to-back three's from Richter and Teuscher pushed the advantage to eight at 29-21.
Richter had 18 points on 6-of-10 shooting in the first half as Washington U. took a 10-point lead (42-32) to the locker room. Teuscher added nine points, four steals and three assists in the first half.
It took Washington U. just four minutes to break open the contest in the second half. A steal by junior Ben Hoener resulted in a fast-break lay-up by sophomore Tim Cooney to force an early timeout by MacMurray with the score at 57-40. Another put back by Cooney at the 14:22 mark capped a 10-0 run to push the lead to 63-40. Washington U. shot a blistering 55.3 percent (21-38) from the field in the second half.
Lee (16 points), Dylan Burton (13 points) and Cole Bush (10 points) all scored in double figures for MacMurray, which shot 43.9 percent (25-57) from the field in the loss.
Washington University (1-0) begins a four-game road trip with a pair of games this weekend in the state of Washington. The Bears take on Whitman College on Friday at 8 p.m. (PT), followed by a matchup on Sunday at 3 p.m. (PT) at No. 12 ranked Whitworth College.