Few things have gone as expected this year for the Saint Louis Univeristy Billikens. That finally changed Tuesday, Feb. 22, when SLU walloped Chicago State 90-52 at Chaifetz Arena. The Billikens (10-17) led the entire game against the Cougars, who are rated as one of the worst Division I teams in the nation.
The game, originally scheduled for early January, was pushed to February in the middle of Atlantic 10 Conference play due to scheduling conflicts within the league. It is the first game of a home-and-home. SLU remains 4-9 in A-10 play, which resumes Saturday, Feb. 26 against Duquesne.
It is hard to take any stat from this game seriously, as head coach Rick Majerus quickly noted in his post-game press conference. Regardless, it was a big night for freshman Dwayne Evans. The A-10 Freshman of the Week collected a game- and career-high 17 rebounds for his fifth double-double overall, second straight and third in four games. He was 6-of-11 from the field and 4-of-4 from the foul line and added a game-high three blocks.
“Dwayne’s confident,” Majerus said. “He’s really done a good job of understanding that criticism is constructive, and you move forward by addressing those situations. He has a maturation level and can compartmentalize between basketball and school.”
It has been the “Dwayne Evans Show” over the last two weeks for the Billikens. Prior to Chicago State, Evans had averaged 15.8 ppg and 9.8 rpg and has led the Bills in scoring in each contest. For the year, he leads the team with 5.8 rpg and leads all A-10 freshmen with 7.5 rpg in league games. He also has a team-leading five double-doubles.
“I feel like every time we come [into the press room], we are talking about Dwayne,” Kyle Cassity joked. “That’s what we need from him, though.”
In general, it was a productive night for almost any Billiken that found the floor. Mike McCall tallied 16 points; his 6-of-11 performance from the field included 2-of-3 from 3-point land. He added three assists and three steals. Brian Conklin had 14 points, seven rebounds and a career-high four assists, while Rob Loe chipped in 10 points and contributed nine of the overall 50 boards collected by the Bills.
It was also SLU’s best offensive showing since a 91-56 victory over Houston Baptist on Nov. 10, 2007.
“It’s a guarantee game … you can’t really take much out of this game,” Majerus said. “It’s hard to look at this, you know, in what context… it is what it is. Stats conceal as much as they reveal. You know, it’s ‘against whom?’”
The nature of the blowout allowed Majerus to give walk-on Brian Daly a chance to do more than just hold the ball. Daly logged eight minutes on the floor, took three shots and recorded his first bucket of his college career against the Cougars. Previously, Daly saw the floor against four teams without a field goal attempt. His appearance on the floor drew an ovation from the crowd.
Every time he got within 30 feet of the basket, he felt the pressure of 5,000 fans.
“At one point, everyone was screaming, ‘Shoot it,’ “Cassity said, “and [the Cougars] started denying him, shading toward him. It was awesome. It was great to see him get out there and play a little bit.”
“He’s a good kid: he tries hard, he’s there every day,” Majerus said about Daly. “I was happy he had a chance to score. The redeeming quality of this game is you get to put a guy like that in.”
