WashU big man Will Grudzinski takes a shot during Sunday’s win over No. 2 Emory. (Photo: Primo Greenway)
| NCAA Men’s Basketball | 1 | 2 | Final |
|---|---|---|---|
| #11 WashU (14-2, 4-1) | 36 | 45 | 81 |
| #2 Emory (13-3, 3-2) | 33 | 30 | 63 |
Steven Millbrook
Special to the Editor
ATLANTA, GA — The No. 11 Washington University men’s basketball team came away with a big UAA road win over No. 2 Emory, 81-63, on Sunday afternoon. The Bears improve to 14-2 overall with a 4-1 mark in conference play.
The victory marks the first top-10 win for the Bears this season.
Freshman guard Connor May scored a career-high 21 points and had a career-high 13 rebounds for his first-career double-double. Senior Hayden Doyle netted 20 points and pulled down seven rebounds and junior Yogi Oliff scored 10 points.
Tied twice in the opening three minutes, the Eagles went on a 7-0 run to take an 11-4 lead at the 16:12 mark.
Down eight points with 13:14 on the clock, the Bears started a 9-0 run that ultimately put them in the lead. Oliff started the run with a layup, followed by back-to-back layups from May. The first-year then drilled a 3-pointer to put WashU ahead 18-17 midway through the half.
A 9-0 run for Emory put the Eagles ahead by nine points again, but the Bears bounced back with a 10-1 run to go ahead. Grudzinski hit a layup, followed by back-to-back 3-pointers from sophomore Ryan Cohen and Doyle. Oliff put in a fastbreak layup at 4:59 to give WashU a 28-27 lead.
As the clock ticked down in the first half, the game was tied twice and the lead changed three times. Tied at 33 apiece with 1:46 on the clock, Doyle hit a fastbreak 3-pointer to give the Bears a 36-33 edge at the break.
Through much of the second half, the Bears continued to hold on to a small lead, but the tide really started turning with just over five minutes remaining.
Up four points, May had an offensive putback which started a 12-0 run for WashU. Grudzinski hit a pair of free throws and May put in back-to-back buckets. Doyle and senior Drake Kindsvater each added two free throws to put WashU ahead 71-55 with 2:00 remaining in regulation.
In less than a one-minute stretch, the Bears scored 10-straight points, all on free throws, to extend their lead to 20+.
The Bears shot 26-for-65 (40%) from the field and 8-for-25 (30%) from 3-point range. A total of 38 points came from the Bears’ bench and WashU out-rebounded the Eagles 46-37.
WashU is back home next weekend for games against Brandeis on Friday evening at 5:30, and back again on Sunday, with a 2 p.m. game against NYU.
#11 WashU 81
| ## | Player | GS | MIN | FG | 3PT | FT | ORB-DRB | REB | PF | A | TO | BLK | STL | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 04 | Doyle, Hayden | * | 36 | 7-21 | 4-11 | 2-2 | 0-7 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 20 |
| 32 | Grudzinski, Will | * | 29 | 2-5 | 1-3 | 4-4 | 0-4 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9 |
| 11 | Cohen, Ryan | * | 23 | 3-8 | 2-6 | 0-0 | 0-3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 |
| 20 | Kindsvater, Drake | * | 20 | 0-3 | 0-1 | 3-4 | 1-3 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 34 | Kapral, Calvin | * | 11 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 1-0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 21 | May, Connor | 29 | 9-18 | 1-3 | 2-4 | 4-9 | 13 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 21 | |
| 10 | Oliff, Yogi | 22 | 2-4 | 0-1 | 6-6 | 1-2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 10 | |
| 33 | Gale, George | 18 | 2-5 | 0-0 | 3-4 | 2-2 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 7 | |
| 15 | Davis, Jake | 11 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 0-1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 00 | Thomas-Johnson,Lleyton | 1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| TM | TEAM | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1-5 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Totals | – | 200 | 26-65 | 8-25 | 21-28 | 10-36 | 46 | 14 | 14 | 11 | 4 | 11 | 81 |
#2 Emory 63
| ## | Player | GS | MIN | FG | 3PT | FT | ORB-DRB | REB | PF | A | TO | BLK | STL | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 02 | Knight,Jair | * | 38 | 5-13 | 1-7 | 2-3 | 1-5 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 13 |
| 24 | Harris,AJ | * | 27 | 6-10 | 1-5 | 0-2 | 0-3 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 13 |
| 10 | Pearce,Ben | * | 34 | 4-14 | 1-3 | 0-0 | 0-6 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 9 |
| 14 | Shanahan,Logan | * | 28 | 3-11 | 0-3 | 0-0 | 0-6 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 6 |
| 21 | Fallas,Albert | * | 8 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 33 | Martens,Cale | 11 | 4-7 | 1-2 | 0-1 | 1-2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 9 | |
| 30 | Awasum,Mario | 11 | 2-3 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 0-1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | |
| 11 | Hall,Spencer | 12 | 2-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |
| 03 | Coppolino IV,John | 18 | 1-3 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 1-1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | |
| 15 | Otto,Will | 6 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1-0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| 32 | Fauss,Ethan | 7 | 0-2 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0-4 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| TM | TEAM | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Totals | – | 200 | 28-67 | 4-23 | 3-8 | 5-32 | 37 | 19 | 13 | 13 | 7 | 4 | 63 |
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 | L 71-66 (10-2) |
| January 17, 2025 (Friday) | 5:30 p.m. | Home | Case Western Reserve | WashU Field House | W 104-66 (11-2) |
| January 19, 2025 (Sunday) | 1 p.m. | Home | #18 Carnegie Mellon | WashU Field House | W 99-74 (12-2) |
| January 24, 2025 (Friday) | 5:30 p.m. ET | Away | Rochester | Rochester, N.Y. / Louis Alexander Palestra | W 99-82 (13-2) |
| January 26, 2025 (Sunday) | 1 p.m. | Away | #2 Emory | Atlanta, Ga. / Woodruff P.E. Center | W 81-63 (14-2) |
| 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 |