Is a Billiken scarier than a Tiger? No, but the No. 9 Saint Louis Billikens muzzled the No. 8 Memphis Tigers in the second round of the NCAA tournament, 61-54.
Kwamain Mitchell led the way for the Billikens with 22 points, shooting four of seven from 3-point range. Brian Conklin has 16 points, with 13 points coming in the second half. No other Billikens scored in double figures.
“We don’t like to slow it down. We tried to make sure that we limit fast-break baskets and put defense as a priority,” Head Coach Rick Majerus said.
The Bills started the scoring with a Dwyane Evans dunk, but it was Memphis who jumped out to the early 7-4 lead. The game remained within three the rest of the first half. The first half was a back-and-forth affair. The Billikens were down three with seconds left, when Mitchell pulled up and shot a desperation three that went in and closed the half with the game tied at 23-23.
The Bills shot 38.5 percent in the first half, but the Tigers had 9 points off turnovers. The Bills had nine uncharacteristic turnovers in the first half.
The Bills then started off very slow in the second. Memphis went on a 9-0 run to extend their lead to 33-27. The Bills were down by 8 points with 11:51 left in the second half. The Bills then began to claw their way back from the deficit and regained the lead on a Mitchell three. After that, the Tigers began to panic, and the team struggled to keep their composure.
Memphis cut the lead, but with 3:02 left in the second half, Memphis’ Tarik Black fouled out, shutting the door on Memphis’ attempted comeback.
“Defense is something we pride ourselves on, and that leads to our offensive,” Evans said.
The Billikens then played the Michigan State Spartans on Sunday. The Spartans defeated Long Island Brooklyn on Friday Mar. 16th.
