ST. LOUIS - Junior power forward Luke Meyer nailed a career-high 20 points to lead the Saint Louis Billikens to a 79-55 victory over Quincy in SLU's regular-season opener on Saturday night at Scottrade Center. Sophomore guard Tommie Liddell contributed a career-high 17 boards to help the Billikens (1-0) to a season-opening win for the second-straight season.
"The guy that was guarding me was really focused on Ian in the post, and my teammates did a nice job of finding me and I was able to knock down some shots," Meyer said. "I just want to do whatever I can to help this team, and if that means continuing to play power forward, I'll do it."
Meyer and junior guard Dwayne Polk led a core of efficient shooters in the early going. The tandem helped SLU open up to an 11-point lead seven minutes in, as Meyer downed six of his first seven shots, and Polk was perfect on his first four chances from the field.
Quincy struggled to keep pace with Billikens in the first half despite some hot shooting of its own. QU's sharp-shooting guard Ryan Walker hit two of the Hawks' five 3-pointers in the first 10 minutes to stay within single digits of the lead. The Billikens began to pull away with under five minutes left in the first stanza thanks to some jumpers from senior center Ian Vouyoukas and junior swingman Danny Brown.
The Bills took a 54-percent shooting percentage and a 45-28 lead into halftime. Meyer's 14 points led all scorers at the break. Quincy paid the price for its eight turnovers in the first session, as the Billikens turned them into eight points on the other end.
Saint Louis came out of the break struggling to match the shooting performance it displayed in the first half. SLU hit only three of its first eight tosses from the field as the Hawks closed their deficit to 11 with 10:31 remaining. But the Billikens got a 3-ball from Brown and a pretty coast-to-coast layin from Liddell to preserve the double-digit lead. A couple of free throws from Liddell with 6:34 remaining put the Billikens up by 20 and they never looked back in coasting down the stretch to the 24-point win.
Liddell dominated the offensive and defensive glass. He gathered five caroms off the offensive glass to go along with 12 on the defensive end as the Billikens out-rebounded the Hawks 44-31.
Meyer hit 8-of-12 shots en route to his game high 20 points. Vouyoukas threw in 14 points and added three assists, while sophomore guard Kevin Lisch added 11. Brown and Polk rounded out the five Bills in double-figures with 10 points each.
Saint Louis will be in action Fri., Nov. 17, against Louisiana Tech in the first of three game in three days at Texas A&M's Shelby-Metcalfe Classic. Friday's tip from College Station, Texas, is slated for 4:30 p.m.
