St. Louis, Mo., Febuary 7, 2014 – Washington University in St. Louis men's basketball head coach Mark Edwards won the 600th game of his career as the No. 4-ranked Bears posted a 77-61 victory over University Athletic Association (UAA) rival University of Rochester Friday night in front of 1,911 fans at the WU Field House in St. Louis.

Edwards, the winningest coach in school history with a 600-266 (.693) overall record, is the 12th NCAA Division III coach and 81st men's college basketball coach to win 600 games. He has led Washington U. to a school-record 30-consecutive winning seasons, 17 NCAA Tournaments and the 2008 and 2009 NCAA Division III National Championship

Senior forward Chris Klimek, the reigning two-time UAA Athlete of the Week, scored a game-high 23 points on 10-of-12 shooting and became the 21st member of Washington U.'s 1,000-point club with a tip-in with 5:07 to play in the second half. Klimek has scored 1,003 points in 67 games for an average of 15 points per contest. He has scored in double figures in all but three games this season, and 54 of 67 in his career.

Junior forward Matt Palucki added 16 points and senior guard Tim Cooney had 10 points, seven assists and seven rebounds in the win. Senior guard Alan Aboona added nine points and nine assists, while senior center Will Patt scored a career-high eight points, pulled down five rebounds and added two blocked shots in 17 minutes off the bench.

Washington U. shot 45.2 percent (28-62) from the field and hit 20-of-27 (74.1 percent) from the foul line in the win. The Bears also outrebounded Rochester 42-35 and had a season-low four turnovers.

Rochester (8-11, 2-6 UAA) started fast in the first half hitting 8-of-10 from the field and had an early 18-12 lead with 13:17 to play. Washington U. answered with an 8-2 run to tie the score at 20-20, as Palucki had five of the eight points for the Bears. Jared Seltzer followed with UR's second three of the game to make it 23-20.

It was the bench play that got Washington U. the lead back at 31-26 after six-straight points by Patt to highlight an 11-3 run. Senior forward Jordan Rapp scored on a lay-up just before half on an assist from Cooney, and then a jumper by sophomore guard Luke Silverman-Lloyd made it 41-34 at half.

Washington U. shot 41.2 percent (14-34) from the field and hit 12-of-13 from the foul line in the opening half. Palucki had nine points to lead the Bears, while Sam Borst-Smith had 12 points to lead Rochester.

Klimek scored six early points for the Bears to get the lead to double figures at 51-41, and then back-to-back buckets by Palucki and Klimek made it 55-43 with 14:28 to play and forced a Rochester timeout.

The Yellowjackets got within nine on two occasions the rest of the way, and a 8-1 run by Washington U. put the game out of reach at 71-53 which forced a fourth timeout of the half by UR.

Borst-Smith had 16 points and six boards to lead Rochester, who hit 5-of-20 from three-point range after hitting 15 treys in the 78-75 loss to Washington U. a week ago.

Washington U. closes out a two-game home stand Sunday, Feb. 9, at Noon against Emory University. The Bears have won a season-high 12-straight games and are 17-2 overall, and sit in first place in the UAA standings with an 8-0 mark. Washington U. has a three-game lead over Emory in the UAA standings, and are seeking their third-straight UAA title and fifth in the last six seasons.

Bear Notebook: Washington U. leads the all-time series with Rochester, 34-22, and the Bears swept the season series for the first time since 2011 … The Bears are 8-0 in UAA play for the first time since the 2008-09 season … Washington U. turned 15 offensive rebounds into a 17-7 advantage in second-chance points … The Bears also had a season-high six blocks in the win … WUSTL is 11-0 at home this season and 91-11 in the last eight seasons.