The Saint Louis University men’s basketball team grew up a little in Las Vegas last week.
After dropping their opener at home to SIU-Carbondale, the Billikens went on the road and took two of three on the strip. The Bills got wins over Hartford and Georgia Tech in the second and final rounds of the tournament, respectively.
The Bills swatted the Yellowjackets 67-54 behind 14 points from junior forward Chris Braun. The Jackets jumped out to an early first-half lead, but the Bills clawed their way back into contention with good team defense. That good defense sparked a 10-2 run by the Bills to close the half, which put the score at 30-23.
In the second half it was a ball-control offense that helped the Bills almost double their halftime lead. The Jackets tried to force the issue by implementing full-court pressure, but the Bills beat the pressure and got some two-on-ones, which resulted in quick, easy buckets.
“We became much better defensively as the tournament went on. By playing good defense it helped us become more efficient on offense,” coach Lorenzo Romar said.
The Billikens makeup changed as the tournament progressed. Players began to understand their roles and have an idea of how Billiken basketball is supposed to be played. Freshman Randy Pulley’s playing time and production went up considerably, as the tournament progressed and he got used to the speed of college basketball.
“I expect Randy’s production to go up as the season progresses. The team’s chemistry is good, and we are getting settled on a rotation, which allows the players to have a feel as to when they are going in and out,” Romar said.
In the third game of the tournament, the Bills’ rally fell just short against the Iowa State Hawkeyes. The Hawkeyes topped the Bill’s 77-72 despite 19 points from junior guard Marque Perry. The Bills were able to cut the lead to 74-72 with 11 seconds to go, but Braun called a timeout when the Bills had none remaining. While the timeout didn’t cost the Billikens the game, it did allow the Hawkeyes to go to the charity stripe, where they went 28-31 for the game. It was the Mark Price-like free-throw shooting that led the Hawkeyes to victory.
In game two of the tournament, the Billikens pounded the Hartford Hawks 85-52. Thirteen points apiece from junior Drew Diener and sophomore Ross Varner led the Bills to victory. The Billikens dominated every facet of the game and opened up an early 17-6 lead that they would never relinquish. The lead climbed to 24 at one point in the first half and was 19 at the break. It was a good way for the Bills to bounce back after their opening loss to SIU-Carbondale.
In that game the Bills weren’t able to capitalize on a game-high 27 points from Perry as the Salukis took the game 69-64. The game was dominated on the boards by the Salukis, who out-rebounded the Bills 24-9 in the first half. The Salukis only shot 37.7 percent from the field, but when they were getting three attempts every time down the court it made it nearly impossible for the Bills to win. The final board stats were 44-26 in favor of the Salukis. After their first four games, the Bills sit at 2-2, with Arkansas Little Rock and No. 3 Missouri coming to Savvis this week.
UALR is averaging 75 points per game and is shooting 38 percent from behind the arc. “UALR is a very good shooting team that relies on a real strong backcourt. They have a talented pair of guards who can score a lot of points,” Romar said.
On Monday, it is the annual grudge match of Missouri as Mizzou comes to town. The Tigers are No. 3 in the polls and have a Wooden Award candidate in Kareem Rush.
“Rush is a phenomenal player; he pretty much has his way with everyone. He scored 29 last year against Duke in the NCAA tournament,” Romar said.
“We aren’t going to look for one person to stop Rush, the Billikens are looking to stop Rush. We are going to need to play our kind of defense and do a much better job on the boards to beat Missouri,” Romar said.
It is going to be a war come Monday at Savvis, as the Bills will look to avenge their late-game collapse of last year. 19,200 tickets have been sold for the Bud Light Showdown, and just 800 remain for the game. If you can’t get tickets you can catch the game on ESPN2 at 6 p.m.
Friday night’s game with UALR tips off at 7:10. Tickets are still available.
