St. Louis, Mo., Jan. 14, 2018 – The No. 6-ranked Washington University in St. Louis men's basketball team scored 61 first-half points en route to a 113-75 win over New York University Sunday at the WU Field House. It was the most points NYU has allowed in a half since 1952.
WashU won its third-straight game to improve to 12-2, 3-0 in the UAA, while NYU fell to 8-5, 1-2 in the UAA.
Senior guard Kevin Kucera had 19 points and tied his career-high with 12 assists, while senior forward Andrew Sanders added 18 points and seven rebounds. Senior guard Jake Knupp (16 points, 7-of-12 FG), senior center David Schmelter (14 points, 15 rebounds), and senior forward Matt Highsmith (10 points, five rebounds) all scored in double figures for the Bears.
WashU shot a season-high 57.9 percent (44-of-76) from the field and hit 15-of-17 from the foul line in the win. The Bears also outrebounded NYU 47-26, and the Bears turned 17 offensive rebounds into a 19-14 advance in second-chance points.
Majority of the first half the game was close with both teams trading baskets. It wasn't until the seven-minute mark that the Bears started to pull away from NYU with give-and-go from Schmelter to Sanders giving the Bears an eight-point advantage at 43-35. The Bears would go into halftime leading 61-47.
Kucera had 17 points and six assists, while Sanders added 10 as WashU shot 57.5 percent (23-of-40) in the first half.
The second half was all Bears shooting 58.3 percent (21-36) from the field and their largest margin of lead by 39 points leading 113-79 with only 23 seconds left.
Freshman guard Jack Nolan added 16 points and four rebounds off the bench. The Bears outscored NYU 36-25 in bench points.
NYU finished the game shooting 40.0 percent (24-of-60) from the field and hit 15-of-35 from three-point range. Jimmy Martenelli had 19 points to lead NYU, while Ross Udine added 17 points and nine assists.
WashU opens a four-game road trip at Case Western Reserve University (7-7, 1-2 UAA) on Friday, Jan. 19. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m. (ET) in Cleveland.
BEAR NOTEBOOK
• WashU leads the all-time series with New York, 46-15, and the Bears have won four-straight meetings.
• Sanders has scored in double figures in 24-straight games.
• The Bears record a season-high 30 assists and 10 steals.
• Sanders moved into seventh in school history in free-throws made (300) and 22nd on the all-time scoring list (1,072).
• Schmelter held NYU's leading scorer Dom Cristiano (16.3 ppg) without a point.