St. Louis, Mo., December 30, 2013 – The No. 9-ranked Washington University in St. Louis men's basketball team returned from a 15-day layoff to scorch the nets for a season-high 15 three-pointers in an 87-50 win at Fontbonne University Monday night at Lee McKinney Court in St. Louis.
The 15 three-pointers made were the third most in school history, falling two shy of the school record of 17 set on Dec. 15, 2005, vs. Fontbonne.
Senior guard Alan Aboona scored 18 of his season-high 24 points in the first half, connecting on 7-of-8 three-pointers in the win. He hit his first seven three-point attempts of the game, and upped his career total to 129. Junior forward Matt Palucki also reached double figures with 12 points on 4-of-7 three-point shooting, while senior guard Tim Cooney added nine points and tied a career-high with four steals.
Washington U. shot 56.4 percent (31-55) from the field in the win, including 53.6 percent (15-28) from three-point range. The Bears also outrebounded Fontbonne, 33-23, and had 21 assists in the win.
Fontbonne came out in a zone and that resulted in some good scoring opportunities early on for Washington University. The Bears hit seven of their first 10 shots from the field, including a pair of corner three's by Aboona, as Washington U. built a 17-2 lead six minutes into the contest.
Aboona canned his third three-pointer of the half and then Palucki drilled a corner three to make it 23-6 with 12:40 to play. The Bears hit their first five three-pointers of the game, all from the corner against the Fontbonne zone.
Washington U. extended the lead to 30-12 on a three-pointer by freshman Clinton Hooks from the top of the key with 8:26 remaining. Fontbonne chipped away with the WUSTL starters on the bench to trim the lead to 11 (32-21), but Aboona checked back in and canned a pair of three's, while junior Nick Burt added a jumper and a free-throw to make it 41-21.
Aboona drilled his sixth three-pointer of the half at the buzzer to make it 50-25 at intermission. He was 6-for-6 from three-point range in the first half for 18 points, as Washington U. had already reached its season-high, going 10-of-16 from three-point range.
Aboona did not miss a beat in the second half as he drained a deep three-pointer from the wing and was fouled for the four-point play to put the WUSTL advantage to 58-27. He added a floater in the lane before going to the bench for good with 13:21 to play.
Darius Rucker (12 points) and Jared Greenlee (10) scored in double figures for Fontbonne, which suffered its fourth-straight loss to fall to 1-8. The Griffins shot 42.6 percent (20-47) from the field and had 19 turnovers in the loss.
Washington U. (7-2) returns to action at home Thursday, Jan. 2, against No. 24 Wheaton College (Ill.). Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. at the WU Field House.
Bear Notebook: Washington U. is 14-1 all-time against Fontbonne, and has won the last 13 meetings … Head coach Mark Edwards picked up career win number 590 … Klimek eclipsed 800 points for his career, while Cooney went over the 600-point plateau … The 50 points allowed by Washington U. were a season-low … 12 of 15 players that saw the court for Washington U. scored at least two points … Aboona has scored in double figures in all nine games this season and 37 in his career.