Waltham, Mass., Feb. 9, 2018 – Senior forward Andrew Sanders scored a game-high 24 points to lead the No. 2-ranked Washington University in St. Louis men's basketball team to an 87-75 road win at Brandeis University Friday in Waltham, Mass.
Sanders was 12-of-17 from the field in the win, and also added five rebounds and four assists. He passed Paul Jackson (1984-88) and Jarriot Rook (1999-2003) into 17th on the all-time WashU scoring list with 1,176 points.
WashU has now won 11-straight games and is 19-2 and 10-0 in the University Athletic Association (UAA), while Brandeis has dropped 10 of its last 11 games and is 5-16 overall and 1-9 in the UAA.
Senior guard Kevin Kucera added 14 points and five rebounds, while senior forward Matt Highsmith added 11 points and a career-high four steals. WashU shot 50.7 percent (34-of-67) from the field in the win, and hit 8-of-17 from three-point range.
WashU hit four of its five shots from the field and led 10-2 early in the game. Kucera hit his first two shots of the contest, both from three-point range. After three-straight buckets from Sanders, freshman guard Jack Nolan canned back-to-back threes to extend the lead to 22-11.
Junior center Marcus Meyer ignited a 6-0 run with a three-point play, and then Highsmith canned a wing three to make it 31-16 and force a Brandeis timeout.
The Bears built a 43-26 lead with less than four minutes left, but Brandeis' Eric D'Aguanno hit three-straight three-pointers to trim the advantage to 45-35 at half. Sanders led the Bears with 10 points as WashU shot 55.9 percent (19-of-34) from the field and hit 6-of-9 threes.
Brandeis opened the half on a 10-2 run to trim the lead to two (47-45) with 17:09 to play and forced a timeout by WashU head coach Mark Edwards. Kucera scored eight-straight points to extend the lead to 58-49, and then the Bears put the game out of reach with an 8-0 run to make it 66-61.
WashU's bench scored 21 points, including a season-high seven from Meyer and six points apiece from Nolan and sophomore guard Matt Nester. Nolan (four) and Nester (five) each added a season-high in assists as the Bears had 24 assists on 34 field goals.
D'Aguanno and Collin Sawyer led Brandeis with 14 points apiece. The Judges shot 49.1 percent (26-of-53) from the field and hit a season-high 13 threes.
WashU returns to action on Sunday, Feb. 11 at New York University (10-10, 3-7 UAA). Game time is set for Noon (ET) at Hunter College.
BEAR NOTEBOOK
• WashU leads the all-time series with Brandeis, 48-12, and the Bears have won 11 of the last 12 meetings
• Sanders has scored in double figures in 31-straight games
• WashU is 10-1 on the road this season
• The Bears have won 15-straight UAA road games dating back to 2015-16