St. Louis, Mo., Feb. 2, 2020 – The No. 11-ranked Washington University in St. Louis men's basketball team shot a season-low 30.3 percent in an 80-67 loss to No. 8 Emory University in a top-15 matchup Sunday at the WU Field House in St. Louis.

Emory improved to 16-2 and 6-1 in the University Athletic Association (UAA) with the win, while WashU fell to 15-3 and 6-1 in the UAA. Brandeis, Emory and WashU are in a three-way tie for first place in the UAA standings at the halfway point of the conference season. 

Junior guard Jack Nolan led the Bears with 19 points and four steals, while senior forward DeVaughn Rucker recorded a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds and sophomore forward Justin Hardy had 12 points and five rebounds. Senior guard Matt Nester added eight points and a career-high five steals off the bench.

WashU was 23-of-76 from the field and hit just 6-of-31 from three-point range. The Bears turned the ball over a season-low seven times and had a season-best 13 steals.

Emory took the early 20-14 lead on a three from Romin Williams, and then the lead grew to eight (24-16) for the Eagles which forced head coach Pat Juckem to call a 30-second timeout. 

WashU answered with a 7-0 run to cut the lead to three, and then a three-pointer by Nester trimmed the advantage to 32-30 with 1:50 to play. 

Emory led 37-31 at the break as WashU shot just 26.3 percent from the field, including just 3-of-16 from three-point range. Rucker led the Bears with 10 points and seven rebounds.

The Eagles opened the second half on a 12-4 run hitting five of their first six shots from the field to open a 49-35 lead. 

Nester and junior guard Payden Webb hit a pair of three-pointers to get the lead down to 55-43, but a 10-2 run by the Eagles put the game out of reach. 

Williams led the Eagles with 18 points on four threes, while Matthew Schner (15 points, 14 rebounds), Mason Johnson (14), Nick Stuck (12) and Lawrence Rowley (11) also scored in double figures. Emory shot 53.3 percent (32-60) from the field and outrebounded WashU 44-40.

WashU travels to Rochester on Friday, Feb. 7, at 8 p.m. (ET).

BEAR NOTEBOOK: WashU leads the all-time series with Emory, 49-16, and the Eagles have won three-straight meetings … Nolan has scored in double figures in 21-straight games dating back to last season … The Bears had their 15-game home win streak snapped … WashU is 3-1 against ranked teams this season.