Drake Kindsvater put up a season high 31 points and 16 rebounds in the Bears Elite Eight victory. (Ella Giere | Photo Editor)

For the first time in 16 years, the No. 17 WashU men’s basketball team will play in the Final Four after defeating the No. 5 University of Wisconsin-La Crosse 80-66 on March 15.

The Elite Eight game came just one day after WashU defeated No. 22 Wisconsin Lutheran College 59-56. The game came a year after the Bears beat Wisconsin Lutheran in St. Louis to move on to the Sweet 16 where they lost to Trine – the eventual national runners-up. This year the Bears won their Sweet 16 match-up propelling them to the Elite Eight for the first time since 2009 when WashU last won the national championship.

Despite WashU winning the tip-off, the UW-La Crosse Eagles would start the game with an unanswered 6-0 run. As the game progressed, the Eagles were unable to break away and secure a double-digit lead. With seven minutes left in the half, WashU was able to take the lead with a layup from senior Drake Kindsvater, making the score 24-23.=

Although WashU was able to regain a narrow lead, shots were not landing, with only 37.8% of shots made. With less than a minute left in the half, UW-La Crosse was able to retake the lead with a layup, ending the half 38-35.

Following halftime, the Bears immediately answered with strong defense, with the Eagles making only one out of 12 three-pointers in, compared to their season three-point percentage of 32.5%.

“They are a highly acute basketball team,” head coach Pat Juckem said. “They see things on the floor, they make adjustments and adaptations.”

WashU also stepped up offensively, shooting 50% on the floor. After the second tie in the half, the Bears broke away and secured a double-digit lead with nine minutes left. Although a free throw brought WashU’s lead down to nine with seven minutes remaining, the Bears answered with a layup from Kindvater, returning their lead to double digits. UW-La Crosse was unable to whittle down WashU’s double-digit lead, and the Bears finished the game 80-66.

Kindvater was a standout with a season-high performance of 31 points and 16 rebounds. First-year Connor May followed with 12 points, and sophomore Ryan Cohen with 11.

Despite WashU’s low shooting percentage in the first half, they were able to come back and average 43.1% of shots made. The Bears also dominated in fast-break points with 23 to the Eagles’ two.

“A big pillar of our offense is getting on transitions,” junior Yogi Oliff said. “[UW-Lacrosse’s] half court defense is pretty suffocating, so we wanted to find opportunities to steal buckets through transitions.”

WashU will face conference rival No. 1 New York University in the Final Four on March 20 at 7:00 p.m. CDT in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The Bears have played NYU twice this season, losing 77-62 in St. Louis and 77-58 in Manhattan. The Violets won the University Athletic Association (UAA) regular season title, only losing to Emory University in January. Unsurprisingly for the top team in Division III, NYU has had a smooth path throughout the NCAA Tournament, winning every game by at least 10 points.

“On Thursday there is going to be a UAA team that will advance to the National Championship,” Juckem said. “We are going to work really hard to give ourselves the best opportunity to be that team.”

This article was updated on March 16 to include additional reporting.

This article was updated on April 9 to clarify that it had been 16 years since WashU’s last Final Four appearance, not 14.