St. Louis, Mo., December 7, 2011 – The Washington University in St. Louis men's basketball team extended its winning streak to four games with a 74-50 win over local-rival Webster University on Wednesday night at the WU Field House in St. Louis.
Senior Dylan Richter scored 22 points on 9-of-15 shooting from the field with four three-pointers. He also added a season-high seven rebounds, four assists and three steals. Freshman Brayden Teuscher added 19 points on 7-of-8 shooting from the field, while freshman Matt Palucki chipped in with 12 points, five rebounds and a career-high four assists.
The Bears shot a season-high 50.8 percent (30-59) from the field, and hit seven three-pointers. Washington U. outrebounded Webster 44-22 and had a 13-4 advantage in second-chance points.
Washington U. torched Webster's zone in the opening nine minutes of play and built a 23-10 lead with 11:04 remaining. The Bears connected on 10 of their first 11 shots from the field, and hit 6-of-7 from three-point range. Richter (12 points) and Teuscher (six points) combined to scored 18 of the Bears' first 23 points of the game.
A pair of free-throws by Teuscher with 7:41 to play gave the Bears their largest lead of the contest at 31-14. Back-to-back three's by Cody Bradfisch highlighted an 8-0 run by the Gorloks to get the WUSTL lead down to nine, but Washington U. managed to hold onto a 42-28 lead at half.
Richter had 16 points and Teuscher added 11, as the Bears shot 56.7 percent (17-30) from the field and hit 7-of-12 from three-point range. Washington University outrebounded Webster, 23-9, and turned six offensive rebounds into a 7-0 advantage in second-chance points.
Palucki hit two buckets in the early stages of the second half to get into double figures, and then back-to-back lay-ups from Richter and senior Alex Toth made it 50-34 before a timeout by Webster. The Bears put the game out of reach with a 22-6 run to push the advantage to 72-44 with 3:14 to play.
Roman Robinson had 17 points in the loss for the Webster, who dropped its overall record to 1-6. The Gorloks turned 17 turnovers by Washington U. into a 23-11 advantage in points off turnovers. Webster shot 31.4 percent (16-51) from the field and hit just 4-of-18 three-pointers.
Washington University (6-2) concludes its four-game home stand against No. 17 ranked Wheaton College (Ill.) on Saturday, Dec. 10. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m. at the WU Field House.
Bear Notebook: Washington U. leads the all-time series with Webster, 18-2 … The first half took only 28 minutes, and there was not a stoppage of play for the opening 5:39 of the game.