The WashU Bears won their NCAA Tournament opener, 69-48, over Coe College, Friday night at the WashU Field House. (Photo: Thomas Grove)
| Team | 1 | 2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coe (16-13) | 27 | 21 | 48 |
| WashU (20-6) | 31 | 38 | 69 |
Steven Millbrook
Staff Writer
ST. LOUIS, MO — After closing out its 2022-23 regular season last week, the Washington University men’s basketball team opened up its postseason with a dominating, 69-48 victory over Coe College, Friday night at the WashU Field House, in the first round the NCAA National Tournament.
The Bears will play North Park on Saturday for the regional championship and a berth in the Division III Sweet 16. That contest is scheduled to tip-off at 6:55 p.m.
On Friday, WashU was led by a trio of big time scorers. Senior big man Kevin Davet had 20 points, while sophomores Drake Kindsvater and Hayden Doyle added 15 points apiece, in a contest that began with a slow start for the Bears. Visiting Coe made four of its first five shots to take an early lead.
But the tide began to turn in WashU’s favor at 13:32, when Kindsvater drilled a shot from distance. Doyle then stole the ball and dished it to sophomore Jake Wolf who hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key to give WashU its first lead at 13-11. A jumper from junior Jabari Chiphe extended the lead to four points with 12:10 on the clock.
Coe cut it to two points but Chiphe sent in a perfect floater and Davet slammed it home to make it 17-13. Davet then put in another layup to extend the lead to six.
Coe went on a 9-0 run in just over a minute to grab a 22-19 lead with 6:55 on the clock.
Back-to-back 3-pointers from Kindsvater and Doyle gave WashU a 27-22 lead with 2:57 on the clock. A 3-pointer from Coe’s Cael Schmitt closed the gap to two points but Doyle and Davet hit a bucket each. TJ Schnurr laid one in with nine seconds remaining to make it a 31-27 game in WashU’s favor at the half.
The Bears opened the second half on a 6-0 run with four coming from Davet to go up 37-27 less than two minutes in. A 3-pointer from Doyle extended WashU’s lead to 13 points with 16:29 on the clock.
The Kohawks went on a 7-0 run to cut into WashU’s lead, 46-40, with 11:56 on the clock. The teams exchanged baskets over the next few minutes until a 3-pointer from graduate Charlie Jacob and a pair of free throws from Kindsvater boosted the Bears’ lead to 55-44 with 4:17 on the clock.
A layup from Davet followed by a four-point play from first-year Yogi Oliff Gave the Bears a 61-45 lead with 2:43 remaining.
In the final 1:48, Kindsvater jammed one home to start a 6-0 run for the Bears to end the game with the 21-point lead.
WashU held a slight advantage on the boards, out-rebounding Coe 31-28. The Bears went 27-for-57 (47.4%) and 9-for-22 (40.9%) from 3-point range.
Coe 48
| ## | Player | GS | MIN | FG | 3PT | FT | ORB-DRB | REB | PF | A | TO | BLK | STL | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 33 | Schnurr,TJ | * | 40 | 9-18 | 2-8 | 1-2 | 4-11 | 15 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 21 |
| 11 | Hall,Greg | * | 30 | 4-12 | 1-5 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| 03 | Schmitt,Cael | * | 37 | 2-10 | 2-6 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| 23 | Steffen,John | * | 22 | 2-5 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0-4 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 32 | Sherry,Bennett | * | 20 | 0-3 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 24 | Nailor,Cooper | 15 | 2-2 | 0-0 | 2-2 | 1-0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | |
| 34 | Bowman,Jackson | 5 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| 22 | Lampe,Max | 14 | 0-1 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 05 | Klahn,Brady | 11 | 0-2 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| 01 | McCrary,Tre | 3 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 20 | Gage,Tyson | 1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 35 | Schloe,Josh | 1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 42 | O’Donnell,Ethan | 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 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Totals | – | 200 | 20-54 | 5-25 | 3-4 | 6-22 | 28 | 11 | 6 | 14 | 1 | 3 | 48 |
WashU 69
| ## | Player | GS | MIN | FG | 3PT | FT | ORB-DRB | REB | PF | A | TO | BLK | STL | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 33 | Kevin Davet | * | 21 | 9-12 | 0-0 | 2-6 | 1-2 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 |
| 04 | Hayden Doyle | * | 35 | 6-14 | 3-7 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 15 |
| 20 | Drake Kindsvater | * | 35 | 5-7 | 2-4 | 3-5 | 1-9 | 10 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 15 |
| 42 | Charlie Jacob | * | 37 | 2-8 | 2-3 | 0-0 | 1-3 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| 10 | Yogi Oliff | * | 32 | 1-5 | 1-2 | 1-1 | 0-3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| 23 | Jake Wolff | 12 | 2-4 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0-6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | |
| 25 | Jabari Chiphe | 10 | 2-4 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 1-0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |
| 32 | Will Grudzinski | 14 | 0-3 | 0-3 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 15 | Nate Bloedorn | 4 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| TM | TEAM | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Totals | – | 200 | 27-57 | 9-22 | 6-12 | 4-27 | 31 | 9 | 16 | 8 | 2 | 7 | 69 |