Athletes and coaches are frequently heard saying something to
the effect of the following quote: “You give it your all, and if
they still beat you despite that, you tip your cap to them.”

That adage could definitely describe the Saint Louis University
men’s basketball team’s 77-66 loss in the second round of the Owens
Corning National Invitation Tournament to the University of Notre
Dame Fighting Irish.

The game was held Monday night at the Allen County War Memorial
Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Ind.

Notre Dame guard Chris Thomas, who placed his name in the NBA
draft pool at the end of last season before deciding to return to
the Irish for his junior year, turned in a legendary performance,
scoring a career-high 39 points despite being closely guarded
throughout the game. “We were on him. He made some NBA-type shots,
so it’s OK to lose like that,” SLU coach Brad Soderberg said in the
post-game interview. “We just got beat by a great player tonight,
and congratulations to him. He did a great job.”

The first half was a close battle, with the lead repeatedly
changing hands. The Billikens climbed out to a 19-14 lead, but it
quickly evaporated when Notre Dame went on an 8-0 run to take a
22-19 lead. SLU outscored the Irish for the remainder at the half,
ending with a three-pointer by senior guard Josh Fisher to give his
team a 26-25 lead at halftime.

The first few minutes of the second half saw the lead change
several times, with both teams repeatedly trading baskets to
reclaim the lead.

Trailing 40-38, SLU junior guard Reggie Bryant hit a three
pointer with 13:21 remaining to put the Billikens back on top at
41-40.

Notre Dame forward Jordan Cornette responded, hitting a trey of
his own to give his team the lead which they would never
relinquish. As the Irish pulled away, the Billikens began to
unravel. During a timeout following a questionable call that saw
senior forward Chris Sloan closely swarmed by a group of ND
defenders, Sloan expressed his frustration with the call by
slamming a stool into the court, drawing a technical foul.

The lead widened when Thomas began to take over the game,
scoring 11 consecutive points on a variety of impressive plays,
including cross-over dribbles and fade-away three pointers,
spreading the Irish lead to 65-48. Thomas scored 27 of his 39
points in the second half.

“He’s a great player to begin with. And then on top of that,
he’s hitting some tough shots with a hand in his face,” Fisher
said. “You can’t really do anything about it.

Fisher concluded his career at SLU by matching his career high
of 21 points. In other statistical aspects, SLU out-rebounded the
Irish 29-26, led by seniors Sloan and Ross Varner with five
rebounds each.

With the win, the Fighting Irish improved to 19-12, advancing to
the quarterfinals of the NIT.

They will play the University of Oregon Ducks, who defeated
George Mason University Tuesday night 68-54 in the 1,000th game
played on McArthur Court, the Ducks’ home court on their Eugene,
Ore. campus since 1927.

The game will be played at 6:00 p.m. in South Bend,
Ind., at the Joyce Center on the Notre Dame campus. The winner will
advance to the semifinals next week in New York City at the Madison
Square Garden.

The Billikens used to be major players in the NIT, back in the
1940’s and 1950’s when the tournament still was the main
post-season attraction. They also reached the finals twice in the
late 1980’s too.

With the loss, the Billikens ended their season with a 19-13
record, which saw SLU achieve their highest win total since the
1999-2000 season, which was their most recent appearance in the
NCAA Tournament.

Ironically, SLU’s surprisingly solid finish was overshadowed by
the surprising seasons turned in by most of the rest of C-USA.

C-USA hit a milestone this season by sending six teams to the
NCAA tournament. Included in that total were five teams, DePaul,
Memphis, Cincinnati, Charlotte and UAB, which all tied for first
place in the conference. The sixth team was perennial conference
power Louisville.

The team finished seventh in Conference USA, with a 9-7 record
in C-USA play. They also made it to the semifinals of the C-USA
Tournament, and recently received a bid to the NIT, where they
defeated Iowa 70-69 in the first round on a three-pointer at the
buzzer by sophomore guard Anthony Dreja,j before falling to Notre
Dame in the second round.

Season Recap: The Billikens finished the season 19-13,
including a NIT tournament win over Iowa. The Billikens will lose
Josh Fisher, Ross Varner, Phil Hunt and Chris Sloan to graduation
this year.