Dec. 17, 2005

Box Score |  Quotes

ST. LOUIS - Ian Vouyoukas and Tommie Liddell awakened Saint Louis from first-half doldrums as the Billikens scored 55 second-half points on their way to beating Kennesaw State 74-60 this afternoon in a non-conference men's basketball game at Savvis Center. Doing most of their damage in the second half, Vouyoukas scored a career-high 20 points, and Liddell collected 19 points, eight boards and a career-high six assists.

"No matter how much you talk to your players about how hard a game is going to be, sometimes it`s difficult to convince them when they're not facing a big name," said Billikens head coach Brad Soderberg. "They may have been surprised by a tight game at halftime, but our staff wasn't. We just kept defending and finding Ian inside, and eventually the game swung our way."

With the shooting touches of each team as frigid as the air outside, both the Billikens and Fighting Owls shot dreadful percentages in the first half. Although KSU missed its first six shots, the Bills were in the process of making just 1-of-4 and turning the ball over four times. Despite all that, Owls guard Ronell Wooten made his next two 3-point attempts and KSU had a 6-2 lead. The Bills continued their tight defense and went on a 12-2 run as Liddell, Vouyoukas and sophomore swingman Luke Meyer each contributed four points. The Bills couldn't break pull away and led 19-16 at the break despite shooting 27.6 percent (8-29) from the field. The Owls shot a mere 21.7 percent (5-23).

When Owls guard Andre Morgan buried a deep three to begin the second half, KSU knotted the game for the last time. SLU responded with a 12-0 run as freshman guard Kevin Lisch answered with a threeball out of the left corner. Vouyoukas collected five points in the rally, while Liddell added a lay-up and a fastbreak dunk. The Bills maintained a fairly comfortable double-digit margin for most of the half and led by as many as 15 on three different occasions, but the Owls tenaciously hung in and pulled within 60-53 on KSU guard Golden Ingle's triple with 4:21 to play.

SLU ended any dramatics with a 9-0 run as Liddell got a lay-up off senior guard Anthony Drejaj's nifty feed, Liddell fed Vouyoukas for a lay-in and sophomore point guard Dwayne Polk finished the spurt with a threeball and a fastbreak lay-up after Liddell's steal.

"Tommie understands his game, because he sticks to the things that he does well," Soderberg said. "We also need to compliment (assistant coach) Anthony Beane, because he suggested a wrinkle in our offense coming out of halftime. We ran it eight straight times, and that's when we broke the game open."

Wooten paced Kennesaw St. (4-5) with 23 points. Morgan and Ingle each finished with 14. The Owls shot 64 percent from the field in the second half to finish at 43.8 percent for the game, 39.3 percent from the arc and 63.6 percent from the free throw line. The Bills pounded the Owls on the boards with a 42-20 advantage.

Vouyoukas posted his third double-double of the season as he collected 11 rebounds. In his first collegiate start, Lisch posted a career-high 15 points. After shooting 64.3 percent from the field in the second half, the Bills shot 45.6 percent for the game, 29.4 percent from three and 85 percent from the line. The Bills' 55-point second half was their most prolific 20 minutes since the 1994-95 squad scored 56 in the second half of a 95-68 triumph over UMKC on Dec. 7, 1994.

"We decided to go with the four-guard lineup today against Kennesaw State's guards, and Kevin gives us our best on-ball defense," Soderberg said. "He did a terrific job against Golden Ingle, who has been averaging 23 points. Kevin can play equally well in the starting lineup or coming off the bench, so that's not a problem for him."

Saint Louis (5-4) continues its five-game homestand by hosting No. 10 Gonzaga on Thu., Dec. 22, at 7:30 p.m.