If only “free throws” were always freebies.
The Saint Louis University men’s basketball team was an atrocious 13 of 25 from the free throw line last night. As a result of the poor shooting, the Bills never could catch up with the Cardinals and lost 68-56 at Freedom Hall in Louisville.
“We didn’t get them to go down,” said coach Lorenzo Romar of his team’s free throw woes on his post-game radio show on KFNS.
The Billikens fell to 14-11 overall and 6-7 in Conference USA. SLU probably lost its last shot at an NCAA berth with the loss. Louisville bumped its record up to 17-9 and 8-5.
The Billikens trailed from the start. Marques Maybin scored six of the Cardinals first eight points giving Louisville an 8-5 lead. Tony Williams sank a running hook to put Louisville up 12-7 with about 12 minutes to play.
After a Chris Braun free throw, the Cardinals went on a 7-0 run to take a 19-10 advantage.
But then Marque Perry took the team on his shoulders. His penetration broke down the Cardinals’ defense. He scored five of SLU’s next six points to pull the Bills within four 23-19, with 6:49 to play in the half.
But it was the free throws and turnovers that doomed SLU in the final six minutes. Perry missed one of his free throws, as did Maurice Jeffers. Heinrich then clanked two off the iron.
Louisville wasn’t efficient either, yet they got by. Nate Johnson hit one of two free throws and converted a layup. Maybin then hit two free throws to give Louisville a 28-20 lead.
The Cardinals scored on its last four possessions to go to the locker room with a 37-29 lead.
The Billikens played good defense in the half, holding Louisville off the boards and keeping the Cardinals in half-court sets. SLU had 13 offensive rebounds, but it also gave up 14 points off turnovers.
At the start of the second half, SLU cut the lead to 39-35. Then an 8-0 Louisville run pushed the lead to 47-35 with 16 minutes to play. The lead hung around the 10-point plateau for over three minutes.
Then the Bills tried to make one final surge. After Louisville misconnected on three straight possessions, SLU slowly made its move. Jeffers hit one of two free throws, and Perry drained a 12-footer.
After a missed three-pointer by Dave Fergerson, he turned around and made one of two free throws. On the next possession Justin Tatum put back a missed Justin Love shot.
Love then followed his own shot and tipped the ball into the basket. Fergerson followed that with a layup, trimming the Cardinals’ lead to 54-51 with about eight minutes to play.
However, the Billikens managed to score only five points in the last eight minutes.
Louisville made 10 of 12 free throws down the stretch to seal the win.
In the past week, SLU has lost three games, all on the road.
The Billikens return home for games against DePaul Saturday at 2:05 p.m. and UNC Charlotte Wednesday at 7:05 p.m. They look to wrap up a possible NIT berth.
