CINCINNATI - Seventh-seeded Saint Louis stunned No. 2 seed Memphis 72-61 and knocked the 23rd-ranked Tigers out of the 2004 Kelly Tires Conference USA Tournament in a quarterfinal game tonight at U.S Bank Arena. Saint Louis (18-11) will face No. 3 seed Cincinnati Friday night at 6 p.m. (CT).
"That's as well as we've played offensively in three weeks and maybe as well as we've played all year" Billikens head coach Brad Soderberg said. "We knew our pace frustrated them in the game at Memphis, but we couldn't sustain it for 40 minutes. Tonight, we did that.
Saint Louis came out of the gate executing crisply on offense and forcing Memphis into turnovers. The Billikens jumped to a 26-14 lead as guards Josh Fisher and Reggie Bryant combined for 17 points. The Bills also got seven first half points from freshman center Ian Vouyoukas, who was receiving his first start in four games for injured Tom Frericks (shoulder sprain).
The Tigers began exerting more pressure defensively and held the Bills scoreless for nearly five minutes as Memphis went on a 10-0 run to close the gap. The Bills managed to hold a 32-28 halftime lead as Vouyoukas dunked and Ross Varner got a tip-in mixed in with single free throws from Chris Sloan and Anthony Drejaj.
Both teams started slowly in the second half, but the Tigers eventually tied the game on Sean Banks' 15-foot free throw line jumper with 8:13 remaining. But SLU junior forward Izik Ohanon, who scored all 14 of his points in the second half, snapped the tie with an eight-foot jumper off the left baseline. That sparked a 16-2 run capped by another Ohanon lay-in with 3:44 remaining.
The Tigers buried some late treys, but never could get closer than 10 as the Bills led by as many as 15 down the stretch.
"Coach told us during the time-out after Memphis tied the game that we had eight minutes to play for the C-USA semifinals, and we just needed to play hard the rest of the way," Ohanon said. "We had people step up and make plays."
Banks led Memphis with 17 points. Both Rodney Carney and Anthony Rice finished with 14 points apiece. The Tigers shot 35.7 percent from the field, 37 percent from three and 52.4 percent from the line."C-USA Player of the Year Antonio Burks had a game-high 10 assists, but was held to six points by Fisher's defensive work. "In the game at Memphis, I played off him too much, so he made some shots and got comfortable early in the game," Fisher said. "Tonight, I tried to pressure him more early on and focus on giving my best effort."
The Billikens shot 53.3 percent from the field, 31.3 percent from the arc and 73.1 percent from the line. Vouyoukas matched his career high with nine points and added five boards. Fisher's team-high six assists raised his career total to 426, breaking the SLU record of 424 previously held by Charles Newberry ('87-90).
