Jan. 11, 2000
ST. LOUIS - Saint Louis closed its men's non-conference basketball schedule tonight by rolling past SIU-Carbondale 76-64 before 13,149 at Kiel Center. Billikens senior guard Justin Love posted his first career double-double with 26 points and 11 rebounds to lift SLU to its second-consecutive victory.
After a slow start, the Billikens jumped on top 17-11 on a pair of Troy Robertson treys with 10:11 remaining in the first half. But the Salukis utilized their trapping defenses to force SLU turnovers and climbed back on top 18-17 at the 9:17 mark. It was SIUC's last lead.
Robertson's threes gave the Bills energy. "I had a couple great wide-open looks off passes from J--Love," he said. "When you have time to set your feet and get a good look, those are great shots to take. We try to come off the bench and provide whatever is lacking. So if those shots gave us energy, I was glad to provide it."
Saint Louis surged ahead on a 13-2 run as the Billikens exercised their muscle inside. Justin Tatum scored twice in close, Robertson scored on a drive through the lane and Love converted a stick-back. Saint Louis scored the final six points of the half to build a 36-24 margin at the break as Love punctuated the rally with a dunk.
The Billikens limited the Salukis to 25 percent (7-28) shooting in the first half. "We defended well in spurts," Billikens head coach Lorenzo Romar said. "We got out and ran with it well at times. We didn't always handle their pressure well, but we got through it enough to be effective."
Saint Louis put the game away quickly in the second half as it opened with a 14-3 run. After Matt Baniak's lay-up with 15:31 remaining, the Billikens led 50-27. Love was involved in everything with a trey, a pair of free throws and another slam.
The Salukis continued to peck away and got the lead within 10 on three different occasions, but never could seriously mount a threat. With SIUC scratching and clawing throughout the second half, the game slowed to a crawl as 51 fouls were called for the game resulting in 74 free throw attempts.
The Billikens' defense forced 18 SIUC turnovers, and the Salukis had only five assists for the game. SIUC shot 30.6 percent from the field, which is a season-low for a Saint Louis opponent. The Bills out-rebounded SIUC 48-42, blocked seven shots and altered quite a few more.
Bills junior swingman Maurice Jeffers combined with Robertson to hold SIUC leading scorer Kent Williams to five points. Williams was 1-10 from the field. Guard Brandon Mells topped the Salukis with 14 points, and Joshua Cross added 12 off the bench.
"We were a little intimidated early," said Salukis coach Bruce Weber. "We had them off-balance a little bit with the traps, but once they got a lead, we were scrambling the rest of the night to catch up. We had trouble with their size inside, and Justin Love is just a strong, mature player."
Robertson was perfect from the field (4-4) and collected a season-high 13 points. Justin Tatum added 10 points and nine rebounds.
Saint Louis (9-6, 1-2) returns to Conference USA action on Sat., Jan. 15, at UNC Charlotte. The Salukis lost their second in a row to drop to 8-7 overall.
