LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Saint Louis freshman guard Anthony Drejaj poured in a career-high 27 points as the Billikens held off stubborn Southern Miss 69-56 in a Conference USA quarterfinal game tonight at Freedom Hall. Drejaj shot 90.9 percent from the field (10-11) and 83.3 percent (5-6) from three as the Billikens won their eighth straight game.
"I want to compliment Anthony for stepping up today, because we were struggling in the second half," said Billikens head coach Brad Soderberg. "As he has done a number of times this year, he found the right time to give us some good numbers, so I'm really pleased with his performance."
Saint Louis made its first six shots as the Billikens bolted to a 15-3 lead. When Drejaj buried a triple with 11:30 to play, the Bills led 23-3. As the Bills shooting cooled off, the Golden Eagles hung in the game. SLU led 33-14 and appeared to have the last possession of the half, but Marque Perry committed a turnover. USM ended up with the final basket of the half on Jasper Johnson's tip-in at the buzzer. Even though the Eagles trailed 33-16 at the break, they had gained a little bit of momentum.
The Bills were still an impressive 63.6 percent from the field in the first half and had limited the Eagles to 26.1 percent from the floor and 16.7 percent from three. The Bills even had a 14-11 rebounding edge.
The Golden Eagles quickly got back into the game by scoring the first seven points of the second half. SLU still managed to maintain at least a six-point lead for the first 11 minutes of the half, but USM was gaining confidence and momentum.
"It was obvious that Southern Miss decided at halftime that they were going to throw the ball inside and have their perimeter players take it to the rim, and that's what they did," Soderberg said. "I knew they'd make a run, but I didn't think it would be that quick. Luckily, we had a big enough cushion to put it away."
Jasper Johnson connected on a trey and a lay-up, and USM was back to within 48-46 with 7:24 to play. The Bills' Perry responded with 1-of-2 free throws, and Drejaj drilled a triple at the 6:35 mark to put SLU on top 52-46.
USM kept coming, but the Billikens had an answer every time. Perry drilled a jumper and fed Drejaj on a pretty back cut for a lay-up as SLU continued to lead 56-50 with 4:26 to play. After a pair of Chris Sloan free throws, Perry again found Drejaj for another trey and the Bills opened a nine-point lead with 3:01 to play. Perry assisted on Sloan's reverse lay-in at the 1:53 mark as SLU led 63-54. Drejaj and Sloan each hit a pair of free throws, and Drejaj added another lay-up as the Bills closed the game in strong fashion.
"No team is going to lay down in the second half, especially when we were beating them in the first half like we were," Drejaj said. "They came out with a big punch in the second half, but we made our run to hold them off."
Southern Miss (13-16) shot 40 percent from the field, but only 18.2 percent from three. Center Charles Gaines finished with 19 points and a game-high nine rebounds. Jasper Johnson contributed 15 points off the bench.
Perry finished with 15 points, a team-high six boards and matched Josh Fisher for the team high with four assists. Fisher finished with 10 points. The Bills shot season-highs of 58.1 percent from the field and 63.6 percent from three. SLU also was strong at the free throw line at 85.7 percent. Senior center Kenny Brown matched his career-high with three blocked shots.
Saint Louis (16-12) faces ninth-seeded UAB, who upset top-seeded Marquette tonight, at 6:30 p.m. (CST) Friday.
