ST. LOUIS - Minnesota knocked off Saint Louis 62-52 tonight in a first round National Invitation Tournament game at Savvis Center. After winning eight games in a row, the Bills saw their season conclude by losing their last two.
Minnesota dominated the first half with their size and cruised to a 35-20 advantage at the half on 50 percent shooting from the field. Meanwhile, the Billikens shot only 32 percent from the floor while senior guard and SLU scoring leader Marque Perry went 1-for-8 from the field. Perry eventually finished with six points, his second-lowest scoring output of the year, including four in the final minute.
"Minnesota is just about as tough a match-up for Marque as you'll find, because in Maurice Hargrow they have an athletic, long guard who can stay with Marque laterally," said Billikens head coach Brad Soderberg. "Usually, Marque can back a guy off with his back-up dribble, but Hargrow was long enough to block that. Usually, Marque gets by people and finishes over smaller big men, but they have an NBA-size lineup back there. So, he had a tough day, and that's not the way he wanted to end his college career."
"They didn't do anything different than other teams did," Perry said. "I just didn't make shots today. I do credit them for playing good help defense."
Saint Louis gamely clawed back into the game in the second half. The Bills pulled to within 41-32 at the 12:26 mark on back-to-back threes from freshman guard Anthony Drejaj. Drejaj delivered another threeball at the 10:50 mark, and SLU trailed 45-37 with 10:50 to play. Trailing by eight, the Bills looked to cut into the lead, but a bobbled pass between Perry and Izik Ohanon turned into a Maurice Hargrow breakaway lay-up.
Some errant free throw shooting hampered the Bills over the next few minutes. Junior swingman Chris Sloan made only 1-of-2 tosses, but made up for it with a stickback. Sloan again only made 1-of-2 sandwiched between senior center Kenny Brown going 2-of-4. Nevertheless, when Ohanon went coast-to-coast for a lay-in, the Bills trailed 51-45 with 6:20 to play. After a Perry steal, he fed Sloan for a breakaway slam, and SLU had crept to within 51-47 with 4:22 remaining.
In perhaps the most significant possession of the game, Gophers point guard Kevin Burleson fouled out when he committed a personal against Brown, but the Bills' senior missed both tosses. At the other end, Rick Rickert, Minnesota's All-Conference forward, buried a 14-foot fadeaway jumper in the lane to put Minnesota up 53-47 with 2:22 remaining. The Gophers drained 7-of-8 free throws to salt the game away.
"I was pleased that we fought back, but you can't win at any level when you shoot free throws as poorly as we did," said Billikens head coach Brad Soderberg. "When Marque doesn't have his best game, it's hard for us."
Snapping a five-game losing skid, Minnesota (17-12) shot 42.6 percent from the field, 27.3 percent from three and 73.1 percent from the free throw line. Rickert and Hargrow each had 15 points to lead Minnesota, while center Jerry Holman added 13 and center Michael Bauer chipped in with 11.
Saint Louis shot only 33 percent from the field, 26.3 percent from three and a dismal 42.9 percent from the free throw line. Sloan topped the Bills with 13 points and nine rebounds, while Drejaj added 12 points and Brown finished with 11. Perry topped the Bills with four assists. Ohanon gave the Bills a lift off the bench with four points and six boards. SLU played Minnesota even on the glass with 38 rebounds apiece.
"Their size played a part at the beginning part of the game, because they are the biggest team we've seen and probably the biggest team in the Big Ten," Sloan said. "But we've got to play through that, we've played big teams before. At the beginning of the game, they were knocking down shots and we weren't. It's that simple."
The Billikens end the season at 16-14. The Gophers face the winner of tonight's Hawaii/UNLV game.
