St. Louis, Mo., January 4, 2014 – Junior forward Matt Palucki scored 22 of his career-high 32 points in the first half to lead the No. 9-ranked Washington University in St. Louis men's basketball team to an 85-68 win over Webster University in the final non-conference game Saturday afternoon at the WU Field House in St. Louis.
Palucki also added 10 rebounds and three assists as he recorded the seventh double-double of his career. He was 12-of-18 from the field in the win, including 5-of-8 from three-point range. Palucki is 13-of-22 from three-point range in the Bears' last three games.
Washington U. picked up its fourth-straight win to improve its overall record to 9-2, while Webster falls to 5-5. The Bears open University Athletic Association (UAA) play Saturday, Jan. 11, at home against the University of Chicago. Tip-off is set for 3 p.m.
Palucki was the story in the first half for Washington University as he scored 22 points on 8-of-9 shooting, including 4-of-5 from three-point range. He shredded the Webster zone by scoring the first 12 points of the game for Washington U. as the Bears held a 12-10 lead five minutes into the contest.
Washington U. held onto a one-point lead when sophomore guard Luke Silverman-Lloyd checked into the game and hit a three from the wing to push the lead to 23-19. Palucki followed with back-to-back threes to make it 29-21, and then a reverse lay-up by Silverman-Lloyd made it 33-26 and forced a 30-second timeout by Webster.
Silverman-Lloyd canned a three from the corner, and then senior guards Tim Cooney and Alan Aboona drilled their first triples of the game to extend the WUSTL lead to double figures at 46-36. Washington U. shot 62.1 percent (18-29) from the field and hit 8-of-10 from three-point range to take a 50-38 lead at half. Palucki had 22 points, while Cooney added 10 and Silverman-Lloyd had eight.
Palucki did not let up in the second half as he tipped in a missed shot and then drilled a three-pointer from the corner to push the advantage to 20 points (62-42) with 13:12 to play. Washington U. put the game out of reach with a 10-0 run to take its largest lead of the game at 75-47 after Silverman-Lloyd's fourth three-pointer of the game.
Silverman-Lloyd poured in a career-high 14 points off the bench on 4-of-8 shooting beyond the arc, while Cooney added 10 points, five assists, three rebounds and three steals. Junior guard David Fatoki added six assists off the bench in 13 minutes.
Washington U. shot 50 percent (32-64) from the field in the win and hit 12-of-25 from three-point range. The Bears outrebounded Webster, 39-30, and had 25 assists on 32 made field goals.
Aaron Griffith scored a game-high 11 points for Webster, which dropped its third game in its last four outings. The Gorloks hit just 6-of-18 from three-point range, and committed 16 turnovers.
Bear Notebook: Washington U. leads the all-time series with Webster, 20-2, and the Bears have won the last three meetings … Head coach Mark Edwards picked up career win number 592 … Washington U. has a 7-0 record at home in 2013-14 … Aboona started his 55th-straight game Saturday dating back to the 2011-12 season … Aboona had his streak of 10-straight double figure games come to an end with a season-low three points.