Anthony Jacuzzi
With two commanding victories over conference competitors, this weekend was a time for record breaking and statement making for the second-ranked Washington University men’s basketball team.
WU, 21-1 and 11-0 in the University Athletic Association, defeated Case Western Reserve 82-49 Friday, and dominated Emory University 93-47 Sunday afternoon.
First, the records. The school’s all-time single season steals record had stood at 55 for 14 years, but with four steals Friday junior Matt Tabash bettered it to 58.
Sunday’s win also extended the Bears’ winning streak to a school-record 17 games and leaves them undefeated at home.
Then, the message. Head coach Mark Edwards and his players recalled playing CWRU and Emory on the road about four weeks ago. In both contests, WU won by only a small margin and allowed the opposing team over 90 points.
“We had to make a statement with these games,” said junior forward Chris Jeffries. “More than anything we wanted to prove to ourselves that we’re going to play defense and play it well.so we beat them by 40 points and we beat them the right way.”
On Friday, the Bears failed to out-rebound CWRU but clamped down on the Spartans nonetheless. WU forced Case Western into 32 turnovers and held them to 26 percent shooting for the game. WU also recorded seven blocked shots in the contest.
The Bears opened the game with a 14-0 rally and ended the first half with a 14-9 run to build a 42-23 lead.
The men began the second half on another run, 14-4. Freshman Michael Faherty set up sophomore Barry Bryant for the one-handed dunk halfway through the half to thrill the fans and give the Bears a 66-36 advantage.
WU led by as much as 35 following a jam by freshman Anthony Hollins and a jumper by freshman Sean Moore with 2:07 left.
The Bears’ starters enjoyed seeing their teammates get some glory and felt a sense of relief in having taken care of business with ease. “Any time you’re on the winning end of a blowout, yeah, you’re going to have fun,” said Jeffries.
The stats clearly reflect the Bears’ domination over CWRU. WU had a 42-10 edge in points in the paint, 18-2 in fast break points and 31-8 in bench points, while shooting a consistent 46 percent. Juniors Jarriot Rook and Dustin Tylka each tallied 14 points for the Bears in about 24 minutes of play. Bryant also contributed 13 points in only 11 minutes.
Sunday, however, WU faced a more physical team in Emory, 6-15 and 2-9 in the UAA.
“They take a lot of pride in their defense too,” said Edwards. “But as the game wore on I think they allowed their frustration to take hold. They started shoving and pushing and playing a little outside of the lines that they normally play.”
WU had to up its aggression on defense and earn offensive boards to counter Emory’s defensive intensity. The Bears ended up out-rebounding Emory 59-29 to claim 21 of the game’s 24 second-chance points.
Junior Joel Parrot fired a three to put the Bears up early and ignite an 8-0 run. After Rook’s dunk and layup, Bryant hit three free throws and a three-pointer to help the home team pull away. With Jeffries’ tip-in at 1:25 they led by 22, and they walked away at half time ahead 45-25.
They opened the second half on a 22-6 streak highlighted by Tabash’s pass to Jeffries for the fast break slam with 14:32 remaining.
The bench saw more opportunity to contribute. In the final seconds, junior Jim Thomas threw a behind-the-back pass to freshman Zak Clark, who made a lay-up to take their biggest lead and the 46 point winning margin.
Jeffries lead the game with 15 points and nine rebounds. Parrot, Bryant and Rook scored 13,12 and 11 pointsrespectively. Tabash tallied seven points and six assists.
Currently, the Bears have three away UAA matchups left to conclude the regular season.
Jeffries said, for the remainder of the season, “I’d like us all to play great defense. I know personally that I don’t want to play in too many close games, and we know we can handle all three of the next teams.”
WU will take on Brandeis, NYU and the University of Chicago within the next two weeks, and only these three teams stand between them and a sixth conference title. However, none of the players currently on the team have experienced a UAA championship.
Winning the next three games would push the Bears’ winning streak to 20 games and set a school record with 24 wins in one season. Also, WU would go down in the record books as only the second team to ever survive the UAA conference undefeated. And most importantly, WU would secure a spot in the NCAA Division III tournament.
Edwards said, “I thought that it was a great home season for us,” said Edwards. “We’ve got three more on the road, and hopefully we’re going to be able to bring an NCAA game back to St. Louis.”
contact Renee at renee.hires@studlife.com