Will Grudzinski eyes up a Rochester defender in the team’s previous matchup. (Riley Herron | Student Life)

After a disappointing loss to Emory University in Atlanta on Feb. 9, the Washington University men’s basketball team had less than 48 hours to regroup before their next game 960 miles away against the University of Rochester. The loss had been the team’s third in a row, as well as their sixth consecutive road defeat, and saw their chances to make the NCAA tournament fall from 59% to 48% according to D3 Bubble Watch, a website that projects the NCAA DIII tournament field. If the Bears lost to Rochester, their projected chances would fall to just 30%.

As a result, the Bears found themselves in a must-win situation, not only to stop the slide toward the bottom of the University Athletic Association (UAA) standings but to ensure that their chances at qualifying for postseason play stayed within reach. 

“It was a huge game, and we knew that,” junior guard Hayden Doyle said. “It’s no secret that we’ve got to win some games down the stretch if we want to potentially make the tournament, so there’s definitely a sense of urgency right now.”

After making the flight from Atlanta to upstate New York, the Bears showed up ready to play on Sunday, Feb. 11. From the opening tipoff to the final whistle, the Bears put on a clinic, riding a 15-0 start, a rebounding performance for the history books, and lockdown defense to a 75-61 victory. 

“We all viewed today as a must-win, we all want[ed] to give 110%,” junior guard Kyle Beedon said after the game. “If you weren’t tired as a dog after this one, there’s something wrong…this game was huge — we hadn’t won on the road yet. We needed this one. So I’m really glad that we were able to pull it out.”

WashU vs. Emory

The Bears looked ready to compete from the start against Emory on Friday night. Sophomore Will Grudzinski scored seven points in the first five minutes, putting the Bears ahead 11-4 early. Though the Bears jumped out to a 20-11 lead three minutes later, the Eagles stayed close behind, narrowing the lead to just one point after a quick run.

After the Bears found themselves ahead 31-29 with just over five minutes remaining in the first half, a 7-0 run put them up 38-29 with 2:52 to go. The Eagles swooped back in, however, scoring the last five points of the half to bring the score to 40-36 at the break.

At halftime, the Eagles continued their hot streak, scoring the first nine points to take a 45-40 lead. Though the Bears kept the game close for much of the half, their hosts never wavered, protecting their lead for the final 17 minutes. A 12-2 run by Emory gave it a 78-61 lead with 5:54 left on the clock, and the Eagles finished the game up 89-76 to hand WashU its third straight loss.

Though the Bears won the battle on the low blocks — out-rebounding Emory 33-27 and outscoring them 36-32 in the paint — the Eagles’ sharp three-point shooting (hitting a season-high 50% of their 20 shots from beyond the arc) and impressive play by sophomore guards Ben Pearce (32 points) and Jair Knight (26 points) proved to be too much for the Bears to stop.

When asked about what went wrong in the second half, Doyle credited Emory’s ability to hit difficult shots.

“I really think Emory just played a really, really good game. I think they made a lot of tough shots that were contested and that are the ones that we’re willing to give up, and they just made a lot of them…they’re very good, and they showed that in the second half.”

Beedon added that the Eagles changed up their defense in the second half, switching from zone defense to a man-to-man look that the Bears were not prepared to face. “They had our number while we were on offense,” he said.

Head coach Pat Juckem pointed out the fact that the Bears gave up 27 free throws, 23 of which the Eagles hit, while the Bears only made it to the charity stripe ten times. 

“Anytime you’ve got a margin like that from the free throw line, that’s significant… we weren’t as disciplined with our feet, and we were not sound and not fundamental there,” Juckem said.

While the Bears were defeated Friday night, a few players had strong offensive performances. Doyle, who has been the Bears’ leading scorer in conference play with 173 points in 11 UAA games, led the Bears in scoring once again with 22 points, which he followed up with 21 against Rochester on Sunday. Grudzinski added 16 for his second-best scoring mark of the season in 28 minutes, while sophomore center Kapral tacked on 13 points in 19 minutes of play.

WashU vs. Rochester

Though Friday’s loss stung the Bears, Juckem reminded his team of a phrase he has been telling them all season: “Championships are won on Sundays.” 

“You don’t typically have quite the crowd and maybe not quite the energy in the building at noon on Sunday, but it counts the same and you have to create your [own] energy,” he explained.

The Bears created their own energy quickly in Sunday’s matchup, jumping out to a 15-0 lead within the first four minutes. Seven early points from Beedon, who ended the day shooting 3/6 from three and scoring 18 points, led the charge. 

“We always want to be the team that punches first,” the guard said after the game. “It’s crucial for us to have an advantage early. We really try to push the tempo and just get out a lot faster, [which] gave us momentum going forward.”

Though the Yellowjackets attempted to close the gap, the Bears utilized their early momentum throughout the half. Rochester narrowed the scoreline to 24-16 with 5:40 left in the half, but that was the last time the deficit came within single digits for the rest of the game. The Bears took a 31-19 lead into halftime and rode a pretty even (44-42) second half to a 75-61 victory.

The biggest success for WashU came on the boards, where they out-rebounded Rochester 63-42. The 63 rebounds put the Bears one shy of the record for a UAA game, which Emory set against Carnegie Mellon in 2002, and were more than any WashU team has tallied in over a decade. 

“It starts with our bigs: Calvin Kapral and Jake Davis,” Doyle said after the game. “They’re really physical guys and they do a really good job of boxing out and keeping the other team’s big men off the glass.”

Kapral had his first-career double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds — eight of which were offensive boards — in just 17 minutes. Davis, a first-year, added eight points and seven rebounds off the bench, while sophomore guard Yogi Oliff also had a career-high 11 rebounds.

“It was a big point of emphasis coming off our Case and Carnegie weekend to really lock in on rebounding because that can be a really big strength for our team…rebounding is such a huge piece of what makes us good, and we need to stick to that,” Doyle added. 

The Bears also relied on a strong defensive performance. Rochester junior Logan Jagodzinski slashed through the Bears’ defense for 22 points in their first matchup, but Grudzinski and senior Jabari Chiphe held him to just three points in 27 minutes of play the second time around.

Looking Forward

With the win, the Bears have some momentum going into the final three games of the regular season. With their UAA championship hopes gone, the Bears must secure one of the 22 at-large bids to qualify for the NCAA Tournament. D3 Bubble Watch currently gives the squad a 66% chance of making it to March Madness.

The squad, which is 4-0 in home conference play, faces off against New York University and Brandeis University on Feb. 16 and 18, before ending UAA play against the University of Chicago on Feb. 24. The Bears lost all three road games against the teams by a combined margin of seven points earlier in the season.

“Every game is going to be so tough, and every little detail is going to matter,” Doyle said. “Obviously, that’s the goal — to win all three of them. I think it just starts with preparation when we get back to practice on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and just going out and executing.”