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ST. LOUIS ­- Saint Louis freshman guard Mike McCall scored 15 points and the Billiken defense shut down Tennessee State in the second half as SLU topped the Tigers 78-50 Tuesday at Chaifetz Arena.

McCall's career-best 15 points came on 5-of-8 shooting from the field, including 1-of-2 from 3-point range. He hit 4-of-5 from the stripe, dished out a team-leading six assists and recorded a team-high three steals. The Billiken defense held Tennessee State without a field goal for more than 10 minutes in the second half, which is when the Billikens took control of the game.

Freshman guard Paul Eckerle went a perfect 3-for-3 from 3-point range to finish with nine points. Freshman forward Dwayne Evans pulled down a team-leading eight boards for the Billikens, who move to 2-2 on the season.

Tennessee State (1-4) was hot from three early on, nailing four of its first five chances from beyond the arc. The Tigers led 11-2 at one point before the Billikens got back into the game. McCall notched the Billikens' first five points on a 3-pointer and a pair of free throws. Brian Conklin scored a layin off an inbounds pass, which was sandwiched between a pair of buckets by Kyle Cassity as the Bills trailed 16-13 with 11:47 remaining in the first half.

Tennessee State continued its sharp 3-point shooting to go up seven midway through the first session until the Bills used some long-ranged firepower of their own to close the gap. An Eckerle trey pulled the Billikens to within four, and an Ellis 3-pointer made it a one-point game. McCall, who was fouled off a steal, made a free throw to tie the game at 22-22 with 5:30 left in the first half.

After going down by five, the Billikens went on an 11-2 run to close the half and lead 33-29 at the break. During the scoring spurt, Evans recorded five points, made two steals and corralled an offensive rebound.

The Tigers came out firing in the second half and scored the first seven points of the frame. But the Billikens responded with a 13-2 run to regain control of the contest. Conklin had a pair of buckets in the run, and Eckerle buried his second trey of the game.

An Ellis 3-pointer with 11:21 left gave the Billikens a 10-point lead at 52-42. SLU built on its advantage on a Jett mid-range jumper and a Christian Salecich 3-pointer, which gave SLU a 16-point lead with 8:27 left.

SLU held Tennessee State without a field goal for the better part of the second half. TSU tallied a bucket with 12:48 left, and didn't record another field goal until there was 2:09 remaining in the game.

The Billikens shot 52.7 percent from the field and 56.3 percent from 3-point range. SLU held Tennessee State to just 33.3 percent shooting in the second half.

At halftime of Saturday's game against IUPUI, SLU will honor Billiken great Ed Macauley. Additionally, 2,000 Ed Macauley bobbleheads will be distributed.