St. Louis, Mo., January 19, 2014 – Junior forward Matt Palucki recorded the eighth double-double of his career with a game-high 29 points and 11 rebounds as the No. 7-ranked Washington University in St. Louis men's basketball team to an 81-65 win over New York University Sunday afternoon in St. Louis. With the win, Washington U. remained undefeated at home this season with a 10-0 record.

Washington U. improves its overall record to 12-2 and is in sole possession of first place in the University Athletic Association (UAA) standings with a 3-0 conference mark. New York dropped its second-straight game to fall to 11-3, and 1-2 in the UAA.

Palucki eclipsed the 20-point mark for the third time this season and fourth in his career, connecting on 10-of-15 from the field. He also tied his career-high making five three-pointers. Senior guard Alan Aboona added 15 points and six assists, while senior forward Chris Klimek had 10 points.

Washington U. connected on 10-of-22 from three-point range, its third game this season with 10 or more threes. The Bears outrebounded New York, the top rebounding team in NCAA Division III, 43-33.

Aboona had the hot hand for Washington U. early in the contest as he scored 10 of the first 12 points for the Bears. His three from the corner gave WUSTL the 12-6 advantage with 14:18 lead. Palucki followed with 10-straight points, including back-to-back threes, as Washington U. extended the lead to 22-14. Aboona and Palucki scored 20 of the first 22 points for the Bears.

Washington U. took its largest lead of the first half at 38-27 with 3:01 to play after a three-pointer by sophomore guard Luke Silverman-Lloyd. Palucki nailed his third three-pointer with 53 seconds left in the half to snap a 7-0 NYU run as the Bears took a 41-34 lead to the locker room. Palucki had 17 points and 10 boards in the opening half for Washington U., who hit 7-of-15 from three-point range.

New York was limited to 32.1 percent (9-28) shooting in the opening half, but stayed in the game by hitting 14-of-18 from the free-throw line. Evan Kupferberg had 12 points in the first half to lead NYU.

Palucki scored five of the first seven points of the second half for Washington U., and his two free-throws pushed the lead to 48-36 and forced a timeout by NYU. Washington U. continued to lead by double figures, but New York mounted a comeback with a 15-4 run to cut the advantage to 62-58 with 8:23 to play.

The Bears scored the next eight points, capped by a steal and a lay-up by junior forward Nick Burt, to get the lead back to double figures at 70-58. Burt had seven points, a career-high five steals, and four rebounds in the win. Aboona sealed the win with a three from the wing to make it 75-61 with 5:04 to play.

Cooney filled up the stat sheet for the fifth-straight game with six points, seven assists and nine rebounds. Silverman-Lloyd added eight first-half points off the bench for Washington U.

Kupferberg (16 points), Ryan Tana (111) and Costis Gontikas (10) all scored in double figures for New York, which shot 27.8 percent (5-18) from three-point range in the loss. The Violets made 20-of-25 from the free-throw line.

Washington U. begins a four-game road trip at Case Western Reserve University Friday, Jan. 24, and at Carnegie Mellon University Sunday, Jan. 26.

Bear Notebook: Washington U. leads the all-time series with New York, 40-13, and the Bears have won 11 of the last 13 meetings … Head coach Mark Edwards picked up career win number 595 … Aboona has connected on a three-pointer in 30-straight games … Aboona eclipsed 800 points for his career (812) … The Bears have won 110 of their last 118 games when leading at half.