Decatur, Ill., Dec. 31, 2019 – The No. 10-ranked Washington University in St. Louis men's basketball team had its seven-game win streak snapped with a 63-61 loss at Millikin University Tuesday in Decatur, Ill.
The Big Blue scored four points in the final 42 seconds to secure the upset. Millikin improved to 3-9 with the win, while WashU dropped to 9-2.
Sophomore forward Justin Hardy recorded a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds, while junior guard Jack Nolan had all 14 of his points in the first half. Sophomore guard Charlie Jacob had a career-high 11 points off the bench.
WashU shot 37.7 percent (20-53) from the field and hit just 6-of-20 from three-point range. The Bears had a season-high 18 turnovers and were outrebounded for the first time this season 38-36.
WashU's defense was the story early in the contest as the Bears limited Millikin without a bucket for almost seven minutes and led 11-5.
With both teams struggling to score, it was Nolan who got the hot hand and his corner three pushed the advantage to 21-12 with less than eight minutes to play. Nolan had 12 of the first 21 points for the Bears.
Millikin ended the half on a 9-2 run to trim the halftime lead to 31-28.
Nolan led the Bears with 14 first-half points as WashU shot 40.0 percent (10-25) from the field. Millikin had a 21-19 advantage in rebounds and 10-4 in second-chance points. The Bears also committed 10 turnovers in the opening half.
Millikin's Michael Akinwumi tied the contest (33-33) with a driving lay-up with 17:59 to play, but Hardy scored seven-straight points for WashU to get the lead back at 38-34.
Jacob provided a much-needed lift from the bench with back-to-back threes, and then the lead grew to double figures (52-42) with 10:56 to play after threes from junior guard Payden Webb and Hardy.
Millikin answered with an 8-0 run to cut the lead two, and then took the lead (59-57) on a three-pointer by Zach Fisher with 2:23 to play. WashU led by two (61-59) after a pair of free-throws by freshman forward Spencer Boehm with 1:10 to play, but did not score on its final two possessions.
Zach Fisher led Millikin with 18 points, while Calvin Fisher added 15.
WashU opens conference play at home on Saturday, Jan. 11, against the University of Chicago. Tip-off is set for 3 p.m.
BEAR NOTEBOOK: Millikin leads the all-time series 19-9, and the teams met for the first time since the 1998-99 season … Webb had seven points in his first career start … Nolan is 88 points shy of 1,000 for his career … Millikin improved to 1-6 this season at home … WashU played without senior starters Hank Hunter and Matt Nester.