ST. LOUIS, MO – The University of Rochester men's basketball fell to the 18th-ranked Washington University in St. Louis Bears, 78-48, on Friday evening inside the WashU Field House.
 
Rochester shot 27.7 percent for the contest and just 18.2 percent (6-for-33) in the first half, as the Bears led by 26 at the half, and by as many as 34 in the game, shooting 42.0 percent overall and 43.2 percent in a 41-point first half.
 
Calvin Kapral broke the seal for the Bears with a layup from Drake Kindsvater just shy of the 19-minute mark of the first, while Logan Jagodzinski's tip-in got the 'Jackets on the scoreboard and leveled the score at two-all.
 
Rochester kept things close in the early goings of the first half, matching the Bears' next two buckets with two free throws from Bennett Kwiecinski, while David Ackles' jumper at the 15:01 mark of the first tied the score again, this time at 6-6.
 
Another Ackles' bucket, this time a layup with 13:52 left in the first, brought UR back within two following George Gale's three-point play, but that'd be as close as Rochester would get the rest of the way.
 
The Bears would outscore UR, 29-5 over the final 11:37 of the first half, shooting 11-for-21 from the field, while the 'Jackets connected on just 2-of-17. A 17-0 spurt made it a 29-10 ballgame before Nate Beitel's three-pointer broke a six-minute scoreless stretch from the Yellowjackets, while a 10-0 run over the next three minutes extended WashU's lead to 26, 39-13, just shy of the three-minute mark of the first.
 
After Ethan McEachern's jumper again broke a scoreless stretch, the Bears would take a 41-15 lead into the locker room, retaking a 26-point lead on two late free throws from Kindsvater.
 
And while the Yellowjackets would improve upon their first-half shooting in the second, shooting 37.5 percent in the second, the halftime deficit would prove to be too much to overcome.
 
The Yellowjackets closed the gap to 20 over the first six minutes of the second, outscoring the Bears by six over the first five-plus minutes of the second half. Justin Odibo and Corvin Oprea each scored four points over the 12-6 run, while Kweicinski's layup brought UR within 20, 47-27, with 14:43 to play.
 
Nate Sock's triple just over a minute later made it a 19-point Bears' lead, but that'd be as close as UR would get the rest of the way. Connor May answered Sock's triple with one of his own, one of nine three-pointers on the evening for WashU, while two free throws from Kindsvater, as well as Hayden Doyle's three, brought WashU's lead back out to 26.
 
WashU led by as many as 34 down the stretch following Yusuf Cisse's layup before two free throws from Luke Razi and Camden Fleming's layup cut the final deficit to 30, 78-48.
 
With the win, WashU's 18th of the year, the Bears move to 18-5 (8-4 UAA), while the Yellowjackets drop to 7-16 (1-11 UAA) following their fourth-straight loss.
 
Oprea led the 'Jackets with nine points and seven rebounds, while Beitel added six points on 2-for-3 shooting from beyond the arc.
 
For WashU, Kindsvater scored a game-high 15 points, while May added 14 and Doyle and Kapral tallied 10 points apiece.
 
The Yellowjackets next head to Chicago, IL for their final road contest of the 2024-25 campaign, taking on UChicago on Sunday, Feb. 23 at 1:00 p.m. CT.