Coming off their blowout winning over Evansville, SIU heads to St. Louis for a battle with the Billikens.
The Billikens are coached by Travis Ford, in his 7th year with the program, and this is his best team yet at Saint Louis. Ford has made the NCAA Tournament once with the Billikens in 2018-19 and lost to #4 Virginia Tech as a #13 seed.
The Billikens have 2 quality wins this year against #27 Memphis and #79 Providence. Their two losses are against #20 Maryland and #19 Auburn.
Meet the Billikens:
Saint Louis was picked 2nd in the Atlantic 10 preseason poll behind Dayton and received 7 first place votes. The Billikens are 12th in the country in D1 experience (3.11 years) and 54th in the country in minutes continuity from last season (57.8%). Saint Louis is 260th in the country in average height (76.6") and 253rd in the country in % of bench minutes used (27.6%). The Billikens are 79th in the country in adjusted tempo (70.0) and 69th in the country in average possession length on the offensive end (16.2 seconds).
What Saint Louis does well:
Saint Louis is 20th in the country in offensive adjusted efficiency (112.4) and 94th in the country in defensive adjusted efficiency (97.7). The Billikens have done a great job taking care of the ball on the offensive end as they're 21st in the country in turnover % (14.9%). Saint Louis is also 95th in the country in offensive rebounding % (32.2%). The Billikens are 50th in the country in assists per field goals made (58.2%). If the game comes down to free throws, Saint Louis is 60th in the country in free throw % (75.6%).
On the defensive end, the Billikens are 51st in the country in effective field goal % against (45.0%), 112nd in the country in 3 point % against (31.2%), and 40th in the country in 2 point % against (44.0%).
What Saint Louis doesn't do well:
The Billikens have really struggled at creating turnovers on the defensive end. Saint Louis is 356th in the country out of 363 D1 teams in turnover % on the defensive end (13.9%). They're 336th in the country in steal % on the defensive end (6.6%) and 334th in the country in non-steal turnover % on the defensive end (7.4%).
Saint Louis is led by 6'0 Senior Yuri Collins who might be the best point guard in the nation. Collins was a 3 star recruit out of St. Louis and chose the Billikens over offers from DePaul, Iowa, and Missouri. Collins had a breakout season last year averaging 11 points per game and 7.9 assists per game and was named to the first-team Atlantic 10 all-conference. Collins led the NCAA in total assists and assists per game last season and set a single-season SLU record for assists in a season. Collins is also the career leader for most assists in program history. This season, Collins has only gotten better. He's currently averaging 11.4 points per game and leads NCAA with 11.6 assists per game (the next closest player averages 8.3 assists per game). In the Billikens' last game against Tennessee State, Collins set a program record with 20 assists in one game. Collins was also named to the Preseason Atlantic 10 first team this offseason and the Preseason Atlantic 10 defensive team.
The Billikens' leading scorer is 6'5 redshirt Junior Gibson Jimerson averaging 13.9 points per game. Jimerson was a 3 star recruit out of Montverde Academy in Florida and chose Saint Louis over offers from Cincinnati and Kansas State. Jimerson has been a 3 point weapon for Saint Louis since his Freshman season. Last season, Jimerson hit 87 three pointers which tied him for the school record for most three pointers in a season. This season, Jimerson is 315th in the country in 3 point % (21-51, 41.2%), 260th in the country in effective field goal % (58.5%), and 320nd in the country in true shooting % (59.9%). Jimerson was named to the Preseason Atlantic 10 second team.
Saint Louis' leading rebounder is 6'9 Senior Francis Okoro averaging 8.6 rebounds per game. Okoro was a 4 star recruit out of Normal Community West High School in Normal, Illinois and chose Oregon over offers from Alabama, DePaul, Illinois, and Kansas. After 2 years at Oregon, Okoro transferred to Saint Louis and last season finished 2nd in the Atlantic 10 in rebounding averaging 8.1 rebounds per game. This season, Okoro is currently 62nd in the country in offensive rebounding % (14.3%) and 93rd in the country in defensive rebounding % (24.1%). Okoro is also 75th in the country in block % (7.4%). Okoro was named to the Preseason Atlantic 10 third team and Preseason Atlantic 10 defensive team this offseason.
Other players to watch out for on Saint Louis include 6'6 Senior Javonte Perkins. Perkins led the Billikens in scoring in 2020-21 but missed all of last season with a torn ACL he suffered in an exhibition game. Perkins is 2nd on the team in scoring this year (12.6 PPG) and 95th in the country in turnover rate (7.5%). 6'5 5th year Senior Javon Pickett is a transfer from Missouri and is 170th in the country in defensive rebounding % (22.4%). He's also 282nd in the country in effective field goal % (57.7%) and 338th in the country in true shooting % (59.5%).
Links:
Surprises are fun, especially on a Saturday. 😎
I will be there. Would love to see a win against a team like SLU. It may be important come March.
Very winnable game, and with SLU sitting at KenPom #44 this would be an outstanding win and confidence builder for the team - especially knowing they've already won on the road against the #34 team in Oklahoma State.
I actually will not be surprised to see us win.Surprises are fun, especially on a Saturday. 😎
The advancement and diffusion of knowledge is the only guardian of true liberty.
James Madison
I would equate this matchup a bit to the UNLV game in terms of degree of difficulty/the opponent's athleticism, etc. Southern hung in that game but ultimately couldn't find enough offense to pull off the win. SLU doesn't force as many turnovers as UNLV but they do have a truly elite point guard and are a very physical bunch. Plus, this is a road game instead of neutral court (or in Carbondale as originally anticipated), and there will be a big crowd onhand ... should be a fun atmosphere.
Best-case scenario would be building on the Evansville game in terms of guys others than Domask and Jones providing some scoring. That's the path to SIU being able to win games like this because one or two guys can't be expected to do it by themselves on any sort of consistent basis.
@siudawgs I'd argue that "best case scenario" is winning. We can do that there. Not saying that we will. They are really good. But our guys have proven that they CAN win a game like this.
KenPom has Saint Louis winning 71-63 and Vegas seems to take their spread most of the time so guessing Saint Louis is favored by 8, 8.5, or 9
Saint Louis has 2 losses. First was on neutral court to Maryland, who is 7-0 and has won by an avg of 20pts. Other game was a road game against #15 Auburn where they only lost by 5pts. This will be the best team we play all season, including OK St, Drake, UNLV, etc, in my opinion. I think you'll see a line around 7.
Can SIU win this game? Of course they can !!! To do that, they will need to have BOTH Jones and Domask at the top of their games and hitting shots. They also have to limit turnovers and likely have to also hit their FT's. In other words, to win they'll have to play at, or at least near, their best.
From a betting standpoint, I wouldn't touch this game. I can see SIU losing by double digits, less than 7 or even winning the game so this game is hands off for me.
The reality is, St Louis is further along with their program than we are at this time so a loss would not be devastating. I'm already preparing for the roller coaster either way. : )
It will be fun to watch Yuri Collins. I am guessing Jones will be guarding him. If we can hold him to under 10 assists, I would be happy. Since they don't force may turnovers, we should get a few more possessions than usual. It also seems like Mullins is picking up the pace of our offense (not hard to do, but still, I like that). Our depth should be a factor. Keep a lot of ball pressure on them and wear them down.
Man I wish we had Ebube available.
The advancement and diffusion of knowledge is the only guardian of true liberty.
James Madison
I’m expecting a loss so doubt I come out of this game upset unless SIU goes back to scoring under 50 points again. I do expect SIU to keep this game close. Never a question about a Mullins team playing hard every game.
Do think this is a winnable game though. Ford has done a nice job at SLU but he’s been known to underachieve even with talent. If SIU can take this one and then beat the Trees on Wednesday, I think the talks of at least some form of postseason tournament can begin.
play like we did against the purple pimps we win it’s that simple. SIU has to make people pay for smothering Marcus. If and it’s a big if they can shoot like that from 3 it opens up the middle.
