LOUISVILLE, Ky.-It was payback time for the Saint Louis University men’s basketball team last night, as they defeated the Houston Cougars 78-65 in the first round of the Conference USA men’s basketball tournament at Freedom Hall. It was just two and a half weeks ago that the Bills blew a four-point halftime lead and were embarrassed in Houston, 71-51.

“I’m glad we didn’t blow that one,” said coach Lorenzo Romar. “They’re a dangerous team. I thought we stayed together and moved the ball well.”

SLU, the seventh seed, controlled the ball, turning it over only eight times in the game. Meanwhile, the Bills forced Houston, the 10th seed, into 13 giveaways.

“You have to be able to defend at a higher level,” Romar said.

“Today, we applied the pressure,” said senior guard Maurice Jeffers.

Jeffers put on a quiet show as he led all scorers with 20 points and knocked down six of eight free throws.

“My teammates got the ball to me where I like to score,” Jeffers said.

The Billikens (17-13 overall) made a concerted effort to get Jeffers the ball in the teams’ second meeting. “We neglected to get him the ball for a six-to-eight minute period in Houston,” Romar said.

Freshman swingman Jason Edwin helped Jeffers out on the offensive side. Edwin notched 14 points and went two of four from behind the three-point arc. Edwin’s first three put the Billikens back in the lead late in the first half, 31-28. After that, the Bills never looked back.

“They played an outstanding first half,” said Houston coach Ray McCallum, whose team ended the season at 9-20. “We made our runs, but their experience came through.”

Houston went on an 8-0 scoring spurt late in the second half to cut the Billiken lead to 59-52. But SLU stopped the run, shutting down Houston on the defensive end during a 5-0 run.

Houston freshman center Alton Ford said, “They made plays down the stretch when they had to.”

Ford was named to the C-USA All-Freshman team. After Ford dropped 24 points last week against Tulane, senior center Chris Heinrich and junior forward Chris Braun split duty guarding the 6′ 9″ 270-pound center.

Heinrich and Braun limited Ford to 12 points and 11 rebounds. They matched him on the offensive end, combining for 18 points and eight boards.

“Heinrich is one of the few guys who can slow Alton down,” McCallum said.

Marque Perry chipped in 13 points for SLU and added five assists. George Williams led Houston with 17 points.

The Billikens face No. 2 seed Southern Mississippi today at 2:30 p.m. in a quarterfinal matchup.

The game is not available on SLU’s cable system, but Humphrey’s, at Spring Avenue and Laclede Avenue, is carrying the game via satellite.