SAN JOSE, Calif. – Despite traveling from Brooklyn-to-St. Louis-to-San Jose in a less than 24-hour span, the No. 4 seed Saint Louis University Billikens did not miss a beat, blowing past New Mexico State 64-44 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament Thursday. The 20-point margin of victory was the largest in school history for the Billikens, who collected their school-record 28th win of the season.
Junior Dwayne Evans scored a game-high 24 points on 11 of 16 shooting to set new school record for most points scored in a single NCAA game and to become the 28th member of the program’s 1,000-point club. The 6-5 forward also collected six rebounds, an assist and a block.
Fellow captain Cody Ellis, who also eclipsed the 1,000 career points mark this season, knocked down four of eight shots from the field, including three triples, to finish with 12 points.
“What’s really pleased me is it’s not what you do, it’s what you are,” interim coach Jim Crews said. “And these guys, what they are has really grown and matured and been good leaders. And at their stage of life that’s what you really want guys to be. And that’s what’s been rewarding from my standpoint.”
The Aggies had no answer for the Billikens’ trademark defense, turning the ball over nine times, while shooting just 27.9 percent (17-61) from the field and an even worse 12.5 percent from behind the arc (2-16). Bandja Sy, their leading scorer, finished with 17 points, but managed to hit just six of 20 shots from the field and one of four 3-pointers.
“They have great individual defenders, and they play good defense as a team, too,” he said. “We were aware of this… They’re a great team, you’ve got to give them credit for what they do, but I wasn’t surprised.”
SLU used an 8-3 run to build a 37-23 four minutes into the second half, but NMSU refused to go down without a fight, registering either a steal or a blocked shot on each of the Billikens’ next four possessions. That strong defensive effort sparked a 10-2 Aggie run that sliced the margin to just six following an uncontested 3-pointer from Remi Barry with less than 14 minutes remaining.
Evans attempted to stymie the outburst with a jumper on the other end, but committed a shooting foul on Sy that allowed the Aggies to bring it back to a six-point margin.
“When we went on that run I think we just went back to basics and just what we’re accustomed to doing,” Daniel Mullings explained. “We put on a little press and everybody was engaged in defense. We had a hundred percent pressure on the ball…and we were able to make a good run.”
While NMSU’s run was valiant, the Billikens simply would not be denied, rattling off a 10-1 run to take a commanding 49-34 lead with 9:36 left. That stretch was highlighted by a fast break dunk from Cory Remekun and was capped off by a five-point outburst from Ellis.
Remekun, who had scored just eight points in the entire month of March, finished with 11 points—the most he’s had since a 15-point performance versus New Mexico.
“I was happy for Cory, that was great for a senior to play like Cory did tonight,” Crews said. “He opened up some things. He was good offensively and defensively.”
Evans carried Saint Louis U. in the first half, racking up 16 points on 7 of 11 shooting (the rest of the team was just 3-for-15). The forward did most of his damage from just beyond the free throw line, taking advantage of a gap in the Aggies’ less-than-airtight zone defense.
“That’s just where the gap was in the defense,” he explained. “They ran a zone and had the big kid [7-5 center Sim Bhullar] in the middle trying to clog things up, I was right outside of his reach and he never really adjusted. The shot was there, so I just kept taking it.”
Saint Louis, who knocked off Memphis before falling to top-seeded Michigan State in last year’s tournament, will look to become the first team in school history to reach the Sweet 16 on Saturday against Oregon.
“Coming into this game Coach talked a lot about just not being happy to be here, we’re here to win games,” Evans said. “I think that was the difference in last year, because we weren’t experienced… I think we have different expectations this year.”
The No. 12 seeded Ducks, considered by many to be drastically underrated after they not only finished second in the Pac 12, but also won the conference tournament, knocked off Oklahoma State 68-55 Thursday afternoon.
