MEMPHIS, Tenn.-Memphis posted its seventh straight victory by knocking off Saint Louis 63-54 this afternoon in a Conference USA men's basketball game before 15,491 fans at The Pyramid. The Billikens lost their third in a row completing a winless three-game C-USA road trip.
"We were successful in two of the three areas that we needed to win," Billikens head coach Brad Soderberg. "We kept the pace of the game down. We out-rebounded them, but the turnovers killed us again."
Saint Louis' goal was to slow the pace of the game, and the Billikens effectively accomplished that in the first half to produce a 23-22 edge at the break. The Billikens enjoyed the largest lead of the half at 18-13, but Tigers guard Jeremy Hunt knocked in a 15-footer and point guard Antonio Burks followed with a threeball off the right side to tie it. The Bills led at halftime by virtue of C-USA leading scorer Reggie Bryant's trey, which snapped a string of 13 misses over the course of three games from deep for the junior.
Saint Louis enjoyed its largest lead of the second half 29-25 with 17:58 to play as Bryant knocked in a jumper, but Burks, who finished with a game-high 22 points, drilled another triple to close the gap to one. After Tigers guard Jeremy Hunt buried a threeball off a fastbreak, Memphis moved to a 35-31 lead, but SLU tied the game with lay-ups from Bryant and Izik Ohanon.
Memphis took the lead for good at 37-35 on guard Rodney Carney's jumper at the 13:36 mark and went on a 9-3 run capped by Carney's trey. Tigers forward Duane Erwin, who had five blocked shots in the game, scored on the block for Memphis' biggest margin 52-42 with 5:14 left.
The Billikens got back within six three times with the last at the 1:07 mark on Anthony Drejaj's trey, but couldn't cut the margin any smaller as Memphis handled SLU's fullcourt pressure and made nine consecutive free throws down the stretch.
"Right now, we're a good, solid team that's searching for a way to be a very good team," Soderberg said. "We ran through a tough road trip against three of the higher echelon teams in this league. But we can't afford to have that effect us on Wednesday night when we play against DePaul."
Memphis blocked 14 shots and forced the Bills into 19 turnovers. "That was the best defensive effort by any team that I've ever coached," said Tigers coach John Calipari.
The Tigers (16-4, 7-2) shot 41.2 percent from the field, 28.6 percent from the arc and 71.4 percent from the free throw line. Freshman forward Sean Burks added 13 points with Carney chipping in with 11 off the bench.
Saint Louis shot a season-low 32.2 percent from the field and 21.4 percent from threeland but 92.9 (13-14) from the free throw line. Bryant topped the Bills with 21 points, while Ohanon added 11 in a reserve role. Junior center Tom Frericks grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds as the Bills controlled the glass 40-35.
Saint Louis (11-8, 4-4) begins a three-game homestand by hosting DePaul at Savvis Center on Wed., Feb. 11, in a 7:10 p.m. start.
