While the young Billikens have shown signs of talent in the 2005-2006 season, they have been struggling with their consistency. Since the start of the regular season, the Bills have failed to record a winning streak; but by the same token, they avoided a dreaded losing streak. After a grueling out-of-conference schedule, the Billikens have opened their first season in the Atlantic 10 and split their most recent set of games.
The Billikens knocked off the University of Massachusetts, 50-48, on Saturday at the St. Charles Family Arena. However, the Billikens could not avoid the ebb and flow that seems to have plagued their season, as they fell to the University of Richmond, in Richmond last night, 65-54.
The Bills ran into foul trouble last night; they recorded 26 fouls to a paltry 14 for the Spiders. Richmond made 21 of 30 free throws, including 17 of 21 in the last five minutes, to keep the Bills at bay.
Senior guard Anthony Drejaj led the Billikens with 14 points and eight rebounds. The Billikens shot a measly 36.5 percent for the game, including 31.6 percent from behind the 3-point line. Drejaj made one of his three attempts from downtown.
Senior center Ian Vouyoukas was solid, as per usual for the Bills; he recorded 12 points and eight rebounds. Vouyoukas shot 67 percent from the field but suffered from foul trouble, as did most of the Bills.
Richmond’s Jermaine Bucknor led the Spiders with 24 points, a career high for him. Bucknor shot poorly from the field, 5-13, but converted 11 of 13 free throws.
The Billikens dropped to 2-2 in conference play and 8-8 for the season. Richmond is 10-7 on the season, including 3-1 in the A-10.
Freshman Kevin Lisch had 11 points for the Bills, six rebounds and two assists. Talented freshman classmate Tommie Liddell struggled on the game, registering only five points. Guard Danny Brown had one of the worst nights for the Billikens, shooting 2 of 11 from the field, including 2 of 7 from 3-point range.
The Minutemen of UMASS took the Billikens to the wire in a defensive contest. Liddell hit a jumper with 1.5 seconds left, and center Bryce Husak tipped the inbounds pass to deny UMASS a chance to respond.
Tied at 26 at halftime, the Billikens and the Minutemen would not let one another pull away. UMASS outshot the Bills, but SLU grabbed more rebounds, made more free throws and created more turnovers to earn the victory.
Coach Brad Soderberg, however, was not pleased with his team’s turnover situation; the Bills committed 18 in the game.
“I’m not going to back off my players on this; we are not going to win consistently if we keep turning the ball over 20 times a game. We’ve just got to get that fixed and get it fixed immediately,” Soderberg said in a press release.
Vouyoukas led the Bills with 18 points and seven rebounds and managed to keep the UMASS big men in foul trouble all night. Freshman Kevin Lisch added 14 for the Bills on 5 of 8 shooting.
Drejaj, who scored five points in the game, emphasized that the gameplan for the Billikens is defense.
“I think our pressure really frustrated their offense. We know that has to be a blueprint for our team. When a team is scouting Saint Louis, we want them to think this is a defensive ballclub. We want to be able to stop anybody. We have proven we can score some points on the offensive end. If we hold up on the defensive end, I think we’ll be pretty good these next 14 games,” Drejaj said in a press release.
The Billikens are on the road next, as they head to Cincinnati to take on the Musketeers of Xavier, on Sunday at 6 p.m. They return home next Wednesday, and host St. Joseph’s Hawks, featuring coach Phil Martelli, in the Savvis Center for a 7 p.m. showdown.
