The No. 11 WashU men’s basketball team defeated Case Western Reserve University 104-66 and No. 23 Carnegie Mellon University 99-74 on Jan. 17 and 19, respectively. With these wins, the Bears are now 2-1 in University Athletic Association (UAA) play.

With the No. 15 women’s team’s 93-35 win, and the No. 2 men’s team’s 107-57 victory later that night, WashU played its final basketball games against its neighbor Fontbonne, which will close after the 2024-25 academic year. Fontbonne’s gym and facilities will soon adorn WashU red and green, when WashU absorbs Fontbonne’s land into its campus over the summer. 

Even as much of the roster remains intact, this year, expectations are different. As with any season, WashU wants to be that one team left standing. And this year, more than any year in the recent past, they have the pieces to do it.