WashU’s Anthony Pryzbilla slams one home during the Bears’ NCAA Tournament first round win over Transylvania on Friday. (Photo courtesy: WashU Athletics)
| NCAA Men’s Basketball | 1 | 2 | Final |
|---|---|---|---|
| Transylvania (20-9) | 20 | 27 | 47 |
| #14 WashU (19-7) | 37 | 45 | 82 |
CLAYTON, MO — The Washington University men’s basketball team hosted the first round of the NCAA Division 3 Tournament on Friday and did so in explosive fashion, as the No. 14-ranked Bears walloped Transylvania, 82-47, in a game played at the WashU Field House.
WashU will now face No. 19-ranked Wisconsin-Whitewater in the regional final on Saturday. Tip off is set for 7:30 p.m.
WashU put up balanced scoring, with five players reaching double-digits. First-year Theo Rocca led all scorers with 12 points to go with six rebounds. Sophomore Connor May recorded a double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds.
Senior Yogi Oliff scored 11 points and grabbed seven boards while junior Ryan Cohen went 3-for-4 from 3-point range to finish with 11 points. Sophomore Anthony Przybilla scored 11 points and had four rebounds.
The Bears open the game on an 8-2 run, starting with a layup from Kim followed by an offensive putback from senior Calvin Kapral. Following a Transylvania bucket, Gale slammed one home and Oliff put in a layup.
Up three points at the 6:42 mark, WashU created some distance with a 12-0 run. The first seven points of the run were scored by Rocca with a jumper, a layup and a 3-pointer.
Cohen followed with a 3-pointer and May laid one in to put the Bears up 31-16 with 3:56 left in the first half.
In the final 2:00 of the half, the Bears scored six-straight on a 3-pointer from Cohen, a free throw from Oliff, and a layup from Kim for a 37-20 lead at the half.
With the Bears up 17 in the opening minutes of the second half, Transy put in five-straight to cut it to 12 points, 42-30, at 14:25. Rocca responded with a layup and Kim netted a pair of free throws.
Gale slammed one home again and Przybilla added a bucket. Oliff had back-to-back layups to push WashU’s lead to 24 points, 54-30, midway through the half.
Following a Pioneers’ bucket, the Bears scored another six-straight, starting with a layup from May. Gale netted a free throw and Oliff put in a pair before May closed out the run with another layup for a 29-point, 61-32 advantage with 8:34 remaining.
A pair of free throws from May at the 8:00 mark tipped the Bears’ lead to 30 points. WashU’s lead dipped below the 30-point threshold just twice in the remaining minutes.
In the final three minutes, the Bears got 3-pointers from senior Will Grudzinski and grad student Kyle Beedon, as well as a bucket from junior Lucas Vogel to close out the game.
WashU was 29-for-62 (46.8%) with a six-for-16 (37.5%) clip from three-point range. The Bears dominated on the boards, outrebounding the Pioneers, 56-29.
Tomorrow’s winner will face the winner of another regional final, St. Thomas versus Trinity, which will also be played on Saturday in Texas. The super regional will be played next weekend at a location yet to be determined.
TRANSYLVANIA 47
| ## | Player | GS | MIN | FG | 3PT | FT | ORB-DRB | REB | PF | A | TO | BLK | STL | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23 | Barr,Hunter | * | 33 | 2-10 | 0-3 | 5-14 | 1-6 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 9 |
| 12 | Reesor,Ian | * | 26 | 3-14 | 1-8 | 0-2 | 1-3 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 |
| 05 | Smith,Jaxon | * | 27 | 2-4 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 01 | Marshall,Drew | * | 24 | 2-8 | 0-2 | 1-5 | 2-3 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 10 | Idlett,Luke | * | 28 | 2-7 | 0-3 | 0-0 | 0-3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| 03 | Capps,Dakota | 18 | 3-5 | 0-1 | 1-3 | 1-2 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | |
| 04 | Walbert,J.C. | 15 | 2-4 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | |
| 33 | Lancaster,Cayden | 16 | 1-3 | 1-3 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | |
| 22 | Wilburn,Colby | 3 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| 15 | Stone,Sam | 6 | 0-2 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 24 | Osborne,Nick | 2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 11 | Bibb,Justin | 1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 20 | Fithian,Jake | 1 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| 30 | Davis,Jaden | 0+ | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| TM | TEAM | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1-1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Totals | – | 200 | 18-59 | 4-25 | 7-24 | 7-22 | 29 | 19 | 7 | 10 | 3 | 6 | 47 |
#14 WASHU 82
| ## | Player | GS | MIN | FG | 3PT | FT | ORB-DRB | REB | PF | A | TO | BLK | STL | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | Cohen, Ryan | * | 30 | 4-7 | 3-4 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 11 |
| 10 | Oliff, Yogi | * | 28 | 3-5 | 0-0 | 5-6 | 1-6 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 11 |
| 21 | May, Connor | * | 26 | 3-14 | 0-3 | 5-6 | 1-11 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 11 |
| 03 | Kim, Josh | * | 29 | 2-5 | 0-1 | 4-4 | 0-8 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| 34 | Kapral, Calvin | * | 16 | 1-3 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 3-1 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 30 | Rocca, Theo | 16 | 5-6 | 1-2 | 1-2 | 1-5 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 12 | |
| 23 | Przybilla, Anthony | 20 | 5-9 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 3-1 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 11 | |
| 33 | Gale, George | 11 | 3-5 | 0-0 | 2-4 | 1-1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 8 | |
| 32 | Grudzinski, Will | 10 | 1-3 | 1-3 | 0-0 | 0-3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | |
| 24 | Beedon, Kyle | 4 | 1-2 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | |
| 05 | Vogel, Lucas | 4 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1-0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | |
| 04 | Smith, Colby | 3 | 0-1 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 20 | Cubbage, Jack | 3 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| TM | TEAM | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 2-3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Totals | – | 200 | 29-62 | 6-16 | 18-24 | 13-43 | 56 | 16 | 12 | 11 | 1 | 7 | 82 |
2025-26 WASHU BEARS MEN’S BASKETBALL SCHEDULE
| Date | Time | At | Opponent | Location | TV | Results |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| November 7, 2025 (Friday) | 6 p.m. | Home | Carroll University | WashU Field House |  | W, 90-78 (1-0) |
| November 14, 2025 (Friday) | 5 p.m. | Home | Eureka College | WashU Field House | | W, 100-53 (2-0) |
| November 15, 2025 (Saturday) | 6 p.m. | Home | St. Thomas | WashU Field House | | W, 54-53 (3-0) |
| November 24, 2025 (Monday) | 5 p.m. | Home | Wabash | WashU Field House | | W, 82-74 (4-0) |
| November 29, 2025 (Saturday) | 3 p.m. | Home | Colorado College | WashU Field House | | W, 92-57 (5-0) |
| November 30, 2025 (Sunday) | 3 p.m. | Home | Rhodes College | WashU Field House | | W, 94-78 (6-0) |
| December 6, 2025 (Saturday) | 3 p.m. | Home | Webster University | WashU Field House | | W, 84-79 (7-0) |
| December 9, 2025 (Tuesday) | 5:30 p.m. | Away | Rose-Hulman | Terre Haute, Ind. | W, 87-74 (8-0) | |
| December 18, 2025 (Thursday) | 2 p.m. | Home | Illinois Wesleyan | WashU Field House | | L, 78-76 (8-1) |
| January 2, 2026 (Friday) | 6 p.m. | Away | Hope College | Holland, Mich. | W, 76-62 (9-1) | |
| January 3, 2026 (Saturday) | 11 a.m. | Neutral | Olivet | Holland, Mich. | W, 94-68 (10-1) | |
| January 10, 2026 (Saturday) | 1 p.m. | Away | #4 University of Chicago* | Chicago, Ill. | L, 85-62 (10-2) | |
| January 16, 2026 (Friday) | 4:30 p.m. | Away | Carnegie Mellon* | Pittsburgh, Pa. | L, 64-61 (10-3) | |
| January 18, 2026 (Sunday) | 1 p.m. | Away | Case Western Reserve* | Cleveland, Ohio | W, 100-93 (11-3) | |
| January 23, 2026 (Friday) | 5:30 p.m. | Home | New York University* | WashU Field House | | L, 77-76 (11-4) |
| January 25, 2026 (Sunday) | 2 p.m. | Home | Brandeis* | WashU Field House | | L, 85-81 (11-5) |
| January 30, 2026 (Friday) | 5:30 p.m. | Home | #1 Emory* | WashU Field House | | W, 89-74 (12-5) |
| February 1, 2026 (Sunday) | 2 p.m. | Home | Rochester* | WashU Field House | | W, 89-78 (13-5) |
| February 6, 2026 (Friday) | 4:30 p.m. | Away | #7 Emory* | Atlanta, Ga. | L, 81-72 (13-6) | |
| February 8, 2026 (Sunday) | 1 p.m. | Away | Rochester* | Rochester, N.Y. | L, 76-72 (13-7) | |
| February 13, 2026 (Friday) | 5:30 p.m. | Home | Carnegie Mellon* | WashU Field House | | W, 73-64 (14-7) |
| February 15, 2026 (Sunday) | 2 p.m. | Home | Case Western Reserve* | WashU Field House | | W, 92-80 (15-7) |
| February 20, 2026 (Friday) | 4:30 p.m. | Away | New York University* | New York, N.Y. | W, 84-74 (16-7) | |
| February 22, 2026 (Sunday) | 1 p.m. | Away | Brandeis* | Waltham, Mass. | W, 74-68 (17-7) | |
| February 28, 2026 (Saturday) | 1 p.m. | Home | #4 University of Chicago* | WashU Field House | | W, 82-73 (18-7) |
| March 6, 2026 (Friday) | 7:30 pm | Home | Transylvania | WashU Field House | | W, 82-47 (19-7) |
| March 7, 2026 (Saturday) | 7:30 pm | Home | #19 Wisconsin-Whitewater | WashU Field House | |