LOUISVILLE, Ky.-The Saint Louis University men’s basketball team exacted revenge on the Houston Cougars yesterday. SLU, the seventh seed, won its first round game in the Conference USA tournament 78-65 over the Cougars, the tenth seed, avenging a 71-52 loss to Houston on Feb. 19.
Today, the Billikens are in the hunt for more revenge as they face the No. 2 seed Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles at 2:30 p.m. in Freedom Hall. The Bills are searching for their fifth straight win.
Southern Miss, which tied Cincinnati for the C-USA title, topped the Bills in the teams’ only meeting, a 67-65 win on Feb. 17.
Senior guard David Wall leads the Golden Eagles with 14.2 points per game and senior center Vandarel Jones leads the team in rebounding with 7.3 per game.
Southern Miss relies on its defense, just as the Billikens do. The Golden Eagles limited their opponents’ shooting to 40 percent from the field and only 30 percent from behind the arc.
As No. 7 seed, the Billikens will have to win four games in four days. Saint Louis faced a similar situation last season. Can they do it again?
“They’re capable of playing with anyone in the league,” McCallum said. “I thought that they [the Bills] and Cincinnati were playing the best basketball coming into the tournament.”
“It gives us confidence. We just try to take something positive from every game,” Jeffers said.
The Billikens know what they pulled off in last year’s tourney. But for now, the team is trying to keep things in perspective.
“We’re not thinking four games ahead. We’re thinking game to game,” Romar said. “We’re not looking ahead.”
If the Bills win today, they will either face South Florida or Charlotte in the semifinals at 4:30 p.m. on Friday.
In other action on Wednesday:
UAB ended the career of Louisville head coach Denny Crum in the first round of the Conference USA men’s basketball tournament. UAB handily defeated the host team 74-61 as five Blazers reached double figures in scoring and held the Cardinals to 22 of 70 field goals. UAB faces No. 1 seed Cincinnati today at 7 p.m.
Altron Jackson scored all of his 20 points in the second half to lead the University of South Florida to a 63-59 victory over the DePaul Blue Demons. DePaul was led by super-sophomore forward Bobby Simmons with 20 points. South Florida hooks horns with Charlotte today at noon.
No. 5 seed Marquette avoided being the first team in Conference USA team in history to lose to the No. 12 seed two years in a row as they defeated Tulane 72-67.
The Green Wave kept the ball game close all the way to the end as sophomore forward Brandon Brown and junior forward Linton Johnson each scored 17 points and pulled down seven rebounds. Marquette plays No. 4 seed Memphis tonight at 8:30 p.m.
