Men’s basketball returns to court with new leaders

| Senior Sports Editor

With a different core of senior leaders, the Washington University men’s basketball team has returned to the hardwood looking to build off last season’s 24-3 campaign that ended with a bitter defeat in the second round of the NCAA tournament.

Last weekend, the Bears kicked off their season with two road wins in Memphis, Tenn. On Saturday, all five starters scored in double figures as Wash. U. pulled away for an 85-71 victory over Rhodes College, while the Red and Green rallied in the second half for a 75-68 win over Hendrix College on Sunday.

Then-junior guard David Fatoki rises for a jump shot against Rhodes College on Nov. 16, 2013. Fatoki is one of five upperclassman starters for a Bears’ team that started the 2014 season with two road wins last weekend.Brian Benton | Student Life

Then-junior guard David Fatoki rises for a jump shot against Rhodes College on Nov. 16, 2013. Fatoki is one of five upperclassman starters for a Bears’ team that started the 2014 season with two road wins last weekend.

Despite the departure of Alan Aboona, Tim Cooney and Chris Klimek, who accounted for over half of the team’s points last season, the Bears are ranked No. 9 in the country. Head coach Mark Edwards, entering his 34th season at the helm, believes the Bears will be able to fill the void by using a heap of different players in expanded roles this season.

“We’re not going to replace them, but what we are going to do is put different elements on the floor. If you look at our box scores from last weekend, it pleased me that we had different contributors. In each game, we had different people step up,” Edwards said. “It’s kind of fun; it’s just that I don’t know what’s going to happen from game to game, but through this process we’re going to continue to grow.”

The Bears return two starters in senior forwards Matt Palucki (14.4 points, 6.9 rebounds per game last season) and Nick Burt (7.8 points, 5.8 rebounds). Rounding out the starting five are senior guard David Fatoki (3.7 points, 2.6 assists off the bench last year), junior guard Luke Silverman-Lloyd (3.7 points, 39.6 percent three-point shooting) and junior forward Mitch Styczynski (appeared in five varsity games).

According to Edwards, sophomore guard Michael Bregman, junior forward Brandon Staffeil and senior point guard Kent Lacob figure to be key contributors off the bench. The Bears also boast eight freshmen on the varsity roster, with guard Kevin Kucera and forwards Matt Highsmith and Sasha Sobolev already earning playing time this year.

With plenty of new contributors, the Bears’ four senior captains—Palucki, Burt, Fatoki and Lacob—have been tasked with leading the team.

“It’s quite a contrast to last year, when we had a strong leadership core of Aboona, Cooney, Klimek, [Will] Patt and [Jordan] Rapp, but I think we are taking the new responsibility in stride,” Palucki said.

Then-junior forward Matt Palucki shoots against New York University in a Washington University victory on Jan. 19, 2014. Palucki is the top returning scorer and rebounder for the Bears, and he totaled 33 points and 27 rebounds in the team’s first two games this season.

Then-junior forward Matt Palucki shoots against New York University in a Washington University victory on Jan. 19, 2014. Palucki is the top returning scorer and rebounder for the Bears, and he totaled 33 points and 27 rebounds in the team’s first two games this season.

This season, the Bears hope to take advantage of the team’s depth on the bench. With increased size, the Red and Green could have an advantage on the boards, as demonstrated when they out-rebounded Rhodes 43-24 in their season-opening victory.

“We have a number of people who can come in off the bench and bring something to the game right away, whether it’s scoring or defense or rebounding,” Edwards said. “I think our size is going to be better this year with the young kids we’ve brought in, which will hopefully translate into a strong rebounding team.”

But by incorporating new players into the team’s offense, it’s inevitable that the Bears will suffer some growing pains, which was evident when they turned the ball over 31 times combined in their first two games.

“Our offense is designed around a lot of execution with precise passing and movement, and when new people are involved there, it’s going to take a little while to get all your timing down. We suffered that in the first two games—our turnovers hurt us, and hopefully we can get that under control,” Edwards said.

On the defensive end, the Bears will have a similar look as they still plan to play half-court man-to-man defense.

“[Assistant] coach [Caleb] Lawson has been working very hard with us in shell drills to build our defensive concepts. I wouldn’t say our defensive strategy is different from last year, but our personnel has changed drastically,” Palucki said.

Since winning back-to-back national titles in 2008 and 2009, the Red and Green have yet to advance past the second round of the NCAA tournament. Even with new players transitioning into bigger roles on the court, Edwards didn’t temper the team’s goal of returning to national dominance, though he stressed that the Bears have plenty of room to grow and develop.

“It’s no different than it has been any other year. Our goal is to win a national championship and win the conference. No matter whether we graduate a bunch of people or we have everybody back, it’s the same goal,” Edwards said. “I think it’s realistic this year. We’ve got to remember that we are going to be under a learning curve, don’t put the pressure on ourselves to be what we aren’t yet, but I think at the same time we’ve got a very competitive team.”

With nine of their first 12 games on the road or at neutral sites, the Bears are sure to be battle-tested early. This weekend, Wash. U. travels to Wheaton, Ill., to play in the Lee Pfund Classic, where they will play the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire on Friday and, depending on the results of Friday’s games, potentially No. 18 Wheaton College on Saturday.

Sign up for the email edition

Stay up to date with everything happening at Washington University and beyond.

Subscribe