CARBONDALE, Ill. - Shaky free throw shooting and untimely rebounding resulted in Saint Louis' 65-56 defeat at Southern Illinois this afternoon. The Billikens (5-2) went just 13-of-23 from the charity stripe and yielded 15 offensive rebounds to the Salukis, nullifying a solid shooting day. Sophomores Tommie Liddell and Kevin Lisch scored 14 points apiece, while Luke Meyer and Ian Vouyoukas added 12 and 10 points, respectively for the Billikens.
After the Salukis built a four-point lead through the game's first two minutes, the Billikens pushed ahead on a 3-pointer from Lisch and a mid-range jumper from Liddell at 16:34. SLU stretched the lead to six with 12:23 left in the half as Lisch netted his ninth point of the half on a short jumper. SIU's Jamaal Tatum single-handedly erased a four-point deficit after he was fouled on a 3-point attempt, which he hit along with the ensuing free throw, at the 7:34 mark.
The Billikens fell behind by three before mounting a run that resulted in a two-point lead on Lisch's triple at 4:44. Matt Shaw answered with a 3-pointer of his own on the other end, and Dwayne Polk swung things back in favor of the Billikens with a 3-pointer with 3:32 remaining. The Salukis then closed the half with an eight-point run for a 31-25 halftime lead.
SLU's scoring drought last three minutes into the second half as the Salukis built a 12-point lead before Meyer stopped the bleeding with a jumper from the right baseline. The lead hovered in double digits until Meyer hit a traditional 3-point play with 13:05 left, cutting the SIU lead to 44-35. Meyer sank two more free throws at 12:39 to pull the Bills within seven, and Liddell made it a five-point game on a jumper from the elbow at 10:45. The sophomore hit a free throw 90 seconds later to get SLU within four.
Trailing by five points with just over eight minutes left, the Billikens saw the Salukis run two minutes off the clock on a single possession thanks to a pair of offensive rebounds and a turnover. Tatum's 3-pointer at the end of the battle put SIU up 53-45, and the Salukis never looked back. The Billikens went nearly 10 minutes without a field goal after Liddell's jumper at 10:45 and hit just 6-of-10 free throws during that stretch.
Saint Louis hit 47.5 percent from the field but just 56.5 percent from the free-throw line, while the Salukis made the most of their 20 free-throw attempts, hitting 85 percent to counter 38.9 percent shooting from the field. Meyer pulled down a game-high nine rebounds, including four on the offensive end, narrowly missing his first career double-double.
The Billikens return to action on Sat., Dec. 9, against Western Illinois, Tipoff at Scottrade Center is set for 1 p.m.
