Lionel SobehartThirteen and climbing.
The 13th ranked Washington University men’s basketball team avoided any form of a letdown Sunday, easily defeating Carnegie Mellon, 73-49.
The Bears, who defeated Rochester in a grueling Friday contest Friday evening, moved to 14-1 on the season and remained perfect at 5-0 in University Athletic Association play. The red hot hoops squad has now won 11 straight games and its national ranking is expected to rise with Monday’s release of the weekly D3hoops.com Top 25 poll.
Relentless defensive pressure in the first half limited the visiting Tartans to just 16 points in the opening frame. Offensively, Wash. U. struggled at the start, turning the ball over ten times in the early going.
The second half proved a different story, however, as the Red and Green utilized its trademark transition offense to perfection en route to a 30 point lead with just over five minutes remaining.
The Wash. U. lead hovered around 20 for the much of the second stanza, but a 9-0 Bears run midway through the half cemented the proverbial dagger in the Tartans’ coffin. A pair of late Carnegie threes allowed the final margin of victory to appear slightly more respectable in a game which was never truly in doubt.
Sophomore point guard Sean Wallis and junior big man Troy Ruths each tallied 15 points for the hosts. Freshman guard Aaron Thompson checked in with 14 points, while sophomore swing man Tyler Nading finished with 12. Nading also had nine rebounds to lead Wash. U. Ruths garnered seven boards and Wallis finished with a team high five assists.
It was the 14th time this year that the team exceeded 70 points, with Friday’s win over Rochester being the only time this season that the team has failed to reach the 70 point plateau.
The team, which currently sits alone atop the UAA standings, resumes its four game home stand next weekend with a pair of crucial league contests. The Bears welcome the Judges of Brandeis for a Friday night match-up at 8 p.m. and then host New York University on Sunday at noon.