St. Louis, Mo., Jan. 24, 2020 – The No. 13-ranked Washington University in St. Louis men's basketball team outlasted No. 24 Brandeis University 70-60 to gain sole possession of first place in the University Athletic Association (UAA) standings Friday at the WU Field House in St. Louis, Mo.

WashU improved to 13-2 and 4-0 in the UAA, while Brandeis dropped to 11-4 and 3-1 in the conference. WashU's bench outscored Brandeis 31-8.

Despite only scoring one point, senior guard Jonathan Arenas was the story for the Bears. Arenas had 15 rebounds, a career-high eight assists and a season-best four steals in the win. He had 10 rebounds and five assists in the second half.

Junior guard Jack Nolan led the Bears with 16 points on four threes, while senior forward DeVaughn Rucker had 15 points and six rebounds. Sophomore forward Kameron Mack tied a season-high with 15 points, while junior guard Payden Webb added 13.

WashU shot 39.3 percent (24-61) from the field and outrebounded Brandeis 39-33. The Bears had a 20-11 advantage in points off turnovers, and had a season-high six blocks.

Nolan's three gave the Bears an early 9-2 advantage, and then three-pointers by Webb and Mack pushed the advantage to 17-6. WashU hit seven of its first 11 shots from the field.

WashU's lead grew to 16 (30-14), but the Bears went ice cold from the field and Brandeis responded with a 13-0 run to cut the advantage to 30-27.

Nolan canned a 25-foot three from the top of the key to give the Bears a 36-30 lead at half. He led the Bears with 12 points, while Webb and Mack added nine points each.

WashU's lead grew to double figures (50-39) on a three-pointer by Mack which forced a second timeout of the half by Brandeis with less than 12 minutes to play.

Nolan come up with a key block with 5:32 to play, and then a layup by freshman Spencer Boehm and a bucket by Rucker made it a double-digit lead (60-49).

Collin Sawyer led Brandeis with 20 points, while Nolan Hagerty had a double-double with 10 points and 11 boards. The Judges hit just 5-of-16 threes and had 14 turnovers.

WashU hosts New York University on Sunday, Jan. 26, at Noon as part of Youth Day.

BEAR NOTEBOOK: WashU leads the all-time series with Brandeis 50-12 and the Bears have won 14 of the last 16 games … Rucker has scored in double figures in six of his last seven games … The Bears have outrebounded 14 of 15 opponents this season … Nolan is 22 points shy of 1,000 for his career … Nolan has scored in double figures in 18-straight games dating back to last season … WashU is 17-3 at home under head coach Pat Juckem in two seasons, and has won the last 13 contests.