clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Billikens Chop Down the Sycamores

Saint Louis' strong second half shooting performance gives them their tenth victory of the season as the Atlantic 10 conference season looms on the horizon.

Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports




Dwayne Evans snapped his 28 game double-digit scoring streak against Wofford. He was not excited about his performance, especially the part where he got tackled by Wofford’s John Swinton. Evans claimed he got the "first down," but after that there was not much he could be happy about with his performance.

"I didn’t really play my best basketball. That’s what Wednesday’s for. I’m not going to hang my head on it too much because we play again (tonight)," Evans told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

He returned to form tonight, scoring 24 points against the Indiana State Sycamores. The Billikens won 83-66 to get to their tenth win on the season against a Sycamores team that has been receiving votes in the Mid-Major Madness Power 15.

Three point shooting was a key difference in the game. The Sycamores, who normally make 44.8 percent of their three pointers, only made 27 percent of their three point shots - which is right in line with the Billikens ranking 15th in the nation in three point defense (26.6 percent). SLU, who has been an awful three point shooting team this season, made 40 percent of their three pointers this evening.

Saint Louis jumped out to an early lead and slowly built it to an 11 point lead with 8:33 left in the first half. Despite the huge lead, the Sycamores went on a 15-4 run to tie the game 27-27 with 2:07 left in the first half. The Billikens would close the half on a 7-0 run capped off by a huge three pointer by Rob Loe in the closing seconds of the half. That run gave the Billikens a 34-27 advantage going into halftime.

The Billikens began to extend their lead, but the Sycamores pulled within four points early in the second half. After that the Billikens pulled away, extending their lead to double digits midway through the second half. They got their lead up to 19 points in the second half before eventually winning by a 17 point margin.

Indiana State falls to 7-3 on the season.  Manny Arop led the way for the Sycamores scoring 16 points. The Sycamores will play IUPUI on Saturday while the Billikens will play North Carolina A&T on Saturday.