Hayden Doyle scored 21 points in WashU’s win over Wabash on Saturday. (Photo: Primo Greenway)
| NCAA Men’s Basketball | 1 | 2 | Final |
|---|---|---|---|
| #2 WashU (10-1) | 36 | 32 | 68 |
| Wabash (7-5) | 29 | 31 | 60 |
Steven Millbrook
Special to the Editor
CRAWFORDSVILLE, IN — The No. 2-ranked Washington University men’s basketball team began the new year with a 68-60 road win over Wabash.
The Bears are now 10-1 on the year as they head in UAA league play next weekend.
Senior Hayden Doyle led WashU with 21 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Junior Will Grudzinski netted a season-high 13 points and grabbed eight rebounds while freshman Connor May was just shy of a double-double with nine points and a team-high 11 rebounds.
The teams exchanged baskets in the opening minutes and the Bears took their first multi-point lead at the 15:26 mark following a layup from sophomore George Gale and a 3-pointer from May.
The Little Giants tied the game at eight and took a 10-8 lead before senior Drake Kindsvater hit a tying layup at 12:17.
Over the next several minutes, the game would be tied four more times (15, 17, 19, 21) with neither team taking more than a two-point lead.
With 5:59 on the clock, Grudzinski drained a shot from distance to start a 7-0 run. May followed with a 3-pointer and hit the ensuing free throw after being fouled to make it a 28-21 game with 4:44 remaining in the first half.
Wabash cut it down to three points but the Bears hit five-straight on a jumper and 3-pointer from Doyle to go up 33-25 with just over two minutes left. Another 3-pointer on a fastbreak from Doyle made it a nine-point game and the Little Giants closed out the first half with a pair of free throws to send the Bears into halftime with a 36-29 edge.
Coming out of the half, the Bears took their first double-digit lead of the game on a fastbreak layup from Grudzinski at the 16:44 mark. Gale stole the ball and sent it up to Kindsvater who laid it in, then hit the ensuing free throw after a foul to put WashU up 43-30.
Doyle then hit back-to-back layups and a free throw to give the Bears a 48-30 lead with 15:09 remaining. A 3-pointer from Grudzinski extended the lead to 20 points, 51-31 at the 14:14 mark.
The Bears’ largest lead was 22 points when sophomore Jake Davis put in a layup to make it 56-34. WashU continued to lead by double-digits until Wabash went on a 8-0 run to whittle the lead down to six points with 3:21 left to play.
Up six with 48 seconds remaining, Doyle hit a pair of free throws to close things out.
WashU shot 27-for-58 (46.6%) from the floor and out-rebounded the Little Giants 46-34.
The Bears begin their UAA slate next Saturday, January 11, with a 1 p.m. home game against the University of Chicago.
WashU 68
| ## | Player | GS | MIN | FG | 3PT | FT | ORB-DRB | REB | PF | A | TO | BLK | STL | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 04 | Doyle, Hayden | * | 37 | 8-18 | 2-4 | 3-3 | 1-7 | 8 | 0 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 21 |
| 32 | Grudzinski, Will | * | 29 | 5-8 | 3-5 | 0-1 | 0-3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 13 |
| 20 | Kindsvater, Drake | * | 34 | 3-9 | 0-1 | 1-1 | 3-5 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 7 |
| 34 | Kapral, Calvin | * | 8 | 2-3 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1-1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| 11 | Cohen, Ryan | * | 18 | 0-2 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 21 | May, Connor | 28 | 3-5 | 2-2 | 1-3 | 1-10 | 11 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 9 | |
| 33 | Gale, George | 16 | 3-5 | 0-1 | 1-2 | 0-1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | |
| 15 | Davis, Jake | 16 | 2-5 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 2-1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | |
| 22 | Lawton, Emmett | 14 | 1-3 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| TM | TEAM | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 5-3 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Totals | – | 200 | 27-58 | 7-16 | 7-12 | 13-33 | 46 | 15 | 12 | 12 | 3 | 3 | 68 |
Wabash 60
| ## | Player | GS | MIN | FG | 3PT | FT | ORB-DRB | REB | PF | A | TO | BLK | STL | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 02 | Buccilla,Vinny | * | 29 | 8-20 | 2-6 | 5-6 | 4-3 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 23 |
| 01 | Whack,Josh | * | 32 | 2-11 | 1-4 | 2-2 | 0-1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 |
| 42 | Hupmann,Noah | * | 35 | 1-3 | 0-0 | 2-4 | 2-6 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 4 |
| 44 | Schippert,Gavin | * | 21 | 1-4 | 0-2 | 1-2 | 0-2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| 13 | Brooks,Rich | * | 16 | 0-3 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 1-0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | Sorensen,Robert | 24 | 5-9 | 3-5 | 0-1 | 1-2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 13 | |
| 05 | Matelic,Nate | 24 | 3-7 | 1-2 | 3-4 | 0-3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | |
| 11 | Kelley,Randy | 12 | 0-4 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 00 | Manowitz,Keegan | 7 | 0-1 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| TM | TEAM | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 3-3 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Totals | – | 200 | 20-62 | 7-23 | 13-19 | 12-22 | 34 | 16 | 7 | 4 | 8 | 4 | 60 |
2024-25 WashU Bears Men’s Basketball Schedule
| Date | Time | At | Opponent | Location | Results/W-L |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| November 8, 2024 (Friday) | 7 p.m. | Home | Rhodes College | WashU Field House | W 75-53 (1-0) |
| November 15, 2024 (Friday) | 7 p.m. | Home | Rose-Hulman | WashU Field House | W 84-59 (2-0) |
| November 19, 2024 (Tuesday) | 7 p.m. | Away | Webster University | Webster Groves, Mo. / Grant Gymnasium | W 92-66 (3-0) |
| November 23, 2024 (Saturday) | 2 p.m. | Away | Carroll University | Waukesha, Wis. / Van Male Fieldhouse | W 81-66 (4-0) |
| November 30, 2024 (Saturday) | 1 p.m. | Neutral | Colorado College | Memphis, Tenn. / Mallory Gymnasium | W 69-63 (5-0) |
| December 1, 2024 (Sunday) | 4 p.m. | Away | Rhodes College | Memphis, Tenn. / Mallory Gymnasium | W 60-54 (6-0) |
| December 6, 2024 (Friday) | 7 p.m. | Home | Colby College | WashU Field House | W 89-77 (7-0) |
| December 7, 2024 (Saturday) | TBD | Home | TBD | WashU Field House | W 91-72 (8-0) |
| December 10, 2024 (Tuesday) | 8 p.m. | Away | Fontbonne | St. Louis, Mo. / Mabee Gymnasium | W 107-57 (9-0) |
| December 19, 2024 (Thursday) | 7 p.m. | Away | Illinois Wesleyan | Bloomington, Ill. / Shirk Center | L 84-68 (9-1) |
| January 4, 2025 (Saturday) | 1 p.m. | Away | Wabash | Crawfordsville, Ind. / Allen Athletics and Recreation Center | W 68-60 (10-1) |
| January 11, 2025 (Saturday) | 1 p.m. | Home | University of Chicago | WashU Field House | |
| January 17, 2025 (Friday) | 5:30 p.m. | Home | Case Western Reserve | WashU Field House | |
| January 19, 2025 (Sunday) | 1 p.m. | Home | #18 Carnegie Mellon | WashU Field House | |
| January 24, 2025 (Friday) | 5:30 p.m. ET | Away | Rochester | Rochester, N.Y. / Louis Alexander Palestra | |
| January 26, 2025 (Sunday) | 1 p.m. | Away | #8 Emory | Atlanta, Ga. / Woodruff P.E. Center | |
| January 31, 2025 (Friday) | 5:30 p.m. | Home | Brandeis | WashU Field House | |
| February 2, 2025 (Sunday) | 2 p.m. | Home | #22 New York University | WashU Field House | |
| February 7, 2025 (Friday) | 4:30 p.m. | Away | Brandeis | Waltham, Mass. / Red Auerbach Arena | |
| February 9, 2025 (Sunday) | 1 p.m. | Away | #22 New York University | New York, N.Y. / John A. Paulson Center | |
| February 14, 2025 (Friday) | 4:30 p.m. | Away | Case Western Reserve | Cleveland, Ohio / Adelbert Gymnasium | |
| February 16, 2025 (Sunday) | 1 p.m. | Away | #18 Carnegie Mellon | Pittsburgh, Pa. / Wiegand Gymnasium | |
| February 21, 2025 (Friday) | 5:30 p.m. | Home | Rochester | WashU Field House | |
| February 23, 2025 (Sunday) | 1 p.m. | Home | #8 Emory | WashU Field House | |
| March 1, 2025 (Saturday) | 1 p.m. | Away | University of Chicago | Chicago, Ill. / Ratner Athletics Center |