Sophomore Mike Grunst scored a career-high 17 points, pulled down eight rebounds and added four blocks in the win. Senior Anthony Hollins added 17 points, 10 rebounds and three steals.
The Bears jumped out to an early 12-2 four minutes into the game capped by a three-pointer by junior Scott Stone, St. Louis, Mo. (MICDS). WU's defense forced Tufts to miss 11 of its 12 shots from the field. Tufts (0-1) rallied to tie the score at 20-20 at the 11:08 mark of the first half after the Jumbos went on a 12-4 run.
Washington University (1-0) went to the locker-room with a 47-44 advantage despite giving up 13 offensive rebounds to the Jumbos. Hollins had 10 points and nine rebounds in the first half.
Hollins got the crowd out of their seats early in the second half after he scored on an alley-oop dunk over two Tufts' players to put the Bears up 56-51 with 15:07 remaining. Grunst, who stands seven-feet tall, stepped out for a three-pointer to put WU up 77-69 and then he added a tip-in to make it 82-74.
Stone added 15 points and eight assists while senior Rob Keller had 14 points and six rebounds. Washington U. shot 84.1 percent (37-of-44) from the free-throw line and 43.1 percent (28-of-65) from the field. The WU defense forced 21 turnovers and recorded 16 steals.
Ryan O'Keefe led Tufts with 18 points while Reggie Stovall and Drew Kaklamanos added 14 points in the loss.