St. Louis, Mo., Feb. 25, 2017 – The No. 5-ranked Washington University in St. Louis men's basketball team ended regular-season play with an 81-74 loss to the University of Chicago Saturday on Senior Day in St. Louis.
Prior to the game, WashU honored its three seniors – Michael Bregman, C.J. Harrington and Clinton Hooks. The Class of 2017 has helped guide the Bears to a 79-24 (.767) overall record with three NCAA Tournament appearances and the 2014 and 2017 University Athletic Association (UAA) Championships.
Chicago concluded its season with a 16-9 record, 8-6 in the UAA, while WashU dropped to 20-5, 12-2 in the UAA.
Junior Andrew Sanders led the Bears with 21 points and six rebounds, while Bregman added 15 points on 3-of-4 three-point shooting. Sophomore Marcus Meyer tied a career-high with eight points on 4-of-5 shooting.
WashU shot 45.9 percent (28-61) from the field and hit 8-of-20 from three-point range. The Bears had 21 assists on 28 field goals, but were outrebounded 38-30.
WashU built an 8-2 lead four minutes into the contest as the Bears limited Chicago to 1-of-7 shooting from the field. Junior Kevin Kucera recorded his 300th career assist on a bucket to Sanders with 9:11 left before half to extend the advantage to 21-13.
Chicago took a 27-25 lead on a lay-up by Jordan Baum to cap a 10-0 run. Bregman nailed a three-pointer on the ensuing possession, and then drilled his third from beyond the arc to push the lead to 31-30.
WashU took a 40-37 lead to the half behind 13 points from Bregman, while junior Matt Highsmith added seven points off the bench.
Chicago opened the second half on a 7-0 run to jump out in front 44-40, but buckets by Sanders and Highsmith tied the contest.
Hooks drilled a three-pointer to get the Chicago lead to one, and then junior Jake Knupp hit a three to once again get the lead down to one (63-62) with 8:42 to play. Following Knupp's three, Meyer scored on a lay-up to tie the game at 64-64. Meyer had six of nine points during a 90-second stretch.
Freshman Matt Nester canned a three-pointer with 4:08 to play go get the lead down to two (73-71), but WashU missed seven of its last eight shots from the field.
Jake Fenlon had 16 points to lead Chicago, while Waller Perez added 14. Collin Barthel and Howard added 13 points each. The Maroons shot 51.7 percent (30-58) from the field, including 63 percent (17-27) in the second half.
The 2017 NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Selection Show is set for Monday, Feb. 27, at 11:30 a.m. (CT). The Bears are making their 20th NCAA Division III and 23rdall-time postseason appearance.
BEAR NOTEBOOK: WashU leads the all-time series with Chicago, 50-21, and the Maroons snapped a three-game losing skid to the Bears … Sanders has scored in double figures in 23 of 25 games played … Kucera moved into ninth place on the all-time assist list with 300 … The Bears are 1-4 when outrebounded and 17-2 when leading at half … Four of the five losses this season came on Saturday.