Justin Love hasn’t received that much help this season from his teammates. He’s been the only offensive weapon for the Billikens.
Last night, however, that wasn’t the case.
The Billikens trampled Conference USA foe Marquette 67-52 at the Kiel Center. Justin Love notched a predictable 18 points, but three other SLU players scored in double figures for only the second time this season. Maurice Jeffers poured in 12 points, Dave Fergerson chipped in 11, and Matt Baniak added 10 in the win. It was the most complete team effort this season by the Billikens.
“I don’t know if I’ve been as excited about our team this season as I was tonight,” said coach Lorenzo Romar. “We rebounded fairly-well, defended, and kept turnovers to a minimum.”
The Billikens boosted their record to 11-7 and 3-3 in C-USA, while Marquette fell to 11-7 and 4-3. The Billikens avenged an earlier 56-38 whooping from the Golden Eagles, in which SLU shot an abysmal 25% from the field. Heading into last night’s game, Marquette had only lost two of their last eight games, with both losses No.1-ranked Cincinnati.
With 13:35 left in the first half, SLU was down 10-7 and Marquette appeared to be breaking away. The Bills hadn’t scored in three possessions and showed no signs of stopping Marquette’s Brian Wardle, who eventually sunk a game high 24 points. The Billikens bounced back by finding their groove on offense and playing hard-nosed defense.
Dave Fergerson’s three pointer from the top of the key tied the score at 10-10. After a Matt Baniak baseline jumper, Chris Heinrich took a crisp bounce pass inside the lane from Justin Love to give the Billikens a 14-10 lead with 12:20 remaining in the first half.
Later, Marquette’s John Mueller was double teamed in the post, panicked, and threw the ball away to Fergerson. He drove the length of the court and hit a three pointer beyond the right circle. Fergerson’s score capped a 20-6 run, giving SLU a 27-16 lead with 5:00 left in the first half.
The Billikens kept the lead and went into the locker room leading 33-23.
The second half marked both a strong offensive and defensive effort by the Billikens. Justin Love grabbed 4 of his 5 rebounds and Matt Baniak established himself as a strong rebounding presence in the paint.
“Rebounding has been a focal point in the last two games, and the team has done a lot better job of boxing out,” Heinrich said.
SLU started the second half with the intensity with which they ended the first. With 17:45 left, Justin Tatum ripped away a Love miss from a Marquette defender and went in with authority for two. Four minutes later, Heinrich drew his second charge of the game on a foul by MU’s Greg Clausen. On the next possession, Marque Perry left Cordell Henry in his dust and went in strong to the hole for two.
Minutes later, Fergerson took a Baniak steal and misconnected with Love on an alley-oop. However, Love was fouled after the shot and hit two free throws to increase the lead to 52-39.
Marquette would not close the gap any further as SLU forced turnovers and bad shots each possession.
With 4:25 remaining, Heinrich was pushed to the ground by MU’s John Harris, but Fergerson hit a three pointer at the top of the key as the shot clock expired.
Nail in coffin.
With 30 seconds left to play, MU’s Clausen and Heinrich had to be separated after a scramble for the ball down low. Heinrich, the calmer of the two, was still given a technical foul. Play was stopped for three minutes as the officials dealt with the problem.
“We go back a little. Next time I see him, it will be interesting,” Heinrich said.
The Bills play Louisville this Saturday in the Kiel Center at noon.
As the blue-faced DePaul students armed with giant Q-tips looked at the scoreboard, they saw something very shocking. In front of DePaul’s largest home crowd of the year, the Saint Louis University Billikens had beaten the No. 22- ranked Blue Demons, 75-69.
It took an overtime period for the win, but the Billikens got the job done. The Billikens had impressive offensive play from starting shooting guard Justin Love and point guard Dave Fergerson. Both scored 18 points.
“I was trying to stay positive with our guys,” said coach Lorenzo Romar. “They were only a steal or two away from getting the game to go in their direction.”
Along with 18 points, Fergerson tied the team high of four assists and added three rebounds and two steals.
“So many guys stepped up for us,” Romar said.
Power forward Matt Baniak scored 10 points in a sudden outburst of offense.
Starting center Chris Heinrich and starting power forward Justin Tatum dominated the glass, snatching seven boards a piece.
The Billikens controlled the paint by outscoring the Blue Demons 32-26. SLU also by scoring 25 points on the Blue Demon 22 turnovers.
