SLU Men's Basketball Game Notes & Information
Game No. 25	Saint Louis (9-15, 2-9 A-10) vs. VCU (16-8, 8-3 A-10)
Date // Time	Friday, Feb. 16, 2024 // 6 (CST)
Location	St. Louis, Mo. (Chaifetz Arena)
Chaifetz Arena	Tickets | Parking | Clear Bag Policy
TV	ESPN2 (Mike Corey, Dalen Cuff)
Radio	KMOX 1120 AM (Bob Ramsey, Earl Austin Jr.)
Live Stats	StatBroadcast
Series History	VCU leads 15-5
Game Notes	Saint Louis | VCU

SETTING THE SCENE

• Saint Louis (9-15, 2-9 A-10) welcomes the VCU Rams (16-8, 8-3 A-10) to Chaifetz Arena on Friday night for the Billiken Blizzard. Game time is 6 p.m.
• Free Billiken Blizzard t-shirts will be distributed to all fans, courtesy of Summer at SLU and KMOX. Billiken fans are encouraged to wear white to the game. Also, the popular act "Zooperstars" will perform at halftime.
• Friday's game will be televised on ESPN2 as part of the A-10/ESPN Friday Night Showcase. Mike Corey and Dalen Cuff have the call.
• KMOX 1120 AM serves as the Home for Billiken Basketball on the radio. Billiken Hall of Famers and longtime SLU men's basketball radio partners Bob Ramsey and Earl Austin Jr. will the call the action for all SLU games, both at home and on the road.

ABOUT THE BILLIKENS

• The Billikens are coming off a Philadelphia swing where they averaged 94.0 ppg against La Salle (W, 102-84) and Saint Joseph's (L, 86-87). The 102 points scored at La Salle were the most they have ever scored in an A-10 game.
• Sincere Parker had a massive week and was named an Oscar Robertson Trophy National Player of the Week in addition to A-10 Player of the Week. He is the fourth Billiken in school history and first since Larry Hughes in 1998 to have back-to-back 30+ point games, as he had 33 at La Salle and a career-high 34 at Saint Joseph's.
• Parker, who missed 11 games with a broken foot earlier this year, is back atop the SLU scoring chart averaging 15.8 ppg.
• Gibson Jimerson is second on the Bills with 14.2 ppg. The seventh-leading all-time scorer at SLU needs 10 more 3-pointers to surpass the school record of 295.
• Terrence Hargrove Jr., who holds the school record for games played in a career (136 and counting), is third on the Bills in scoring (12.6) and second in rebounding (5.6).
• Bradley Ezewiro is third on the Billikens with 13.5 ppg and leads the team with 6.2 rpg.
• Larry Hughes II has scored in double figures in four of the last five, including a career-high 15 points in the last outing against Saint Joseph's.
• Cian Medley leads the Billikens with 79 assists and is ninth for most assists by a freshman in school history.
• SLU has had eight different starting lineup combinations this season, the most in the Travis Ford era.

LAST TIME OUT         

• Despite another 30-point outing by Sincere Parker, Saint Louis came up just short in an 87-86 Atlantic 10 Conference loss at Hagan Arena on Saturday afternoon.
• Parker scored a career-high 34 points to lead the Billikens. That performance came on the heels of a 33-point effort the game before at La Salle, marking the first time a Billiken had back-to-back 30-point games since Larry Hughes in 1998.
• On Saturday against the Hawks, Parker was 12-of-19 from the field, 4-of-7 from 3-point range and 6-of-6 from the stripe. He also finished one rebound shy of a double-double with a career-high-tying nine rebounds.
• The Billikens rallied from a double-digit deficit in each half. SLU was down by 14 early on at 26-12 with 14:05 to go in the first but clawed back and led at halftime. Saint Joseph's led again by 11 points at the 9:50 mark of the second half and the resilient Billikens again battled to take the lead back.
• Terrence Hargrove Jr. finished with 19 points and eight rebounds. Larry Hughes II pumped in a career-high 15 points for the Bills.
• Despite rallying back from double-digit deficits, SLU ultimately was unable to overcome its 22 turnovers.

SLU VS. VCU | LAST TIME OUT         

• The Billikens and Rams met earlier this season on Jan. 19 at the Siegel Center in Richmond. VCU prevailed 85-61.
• Sincere Parker led the Billikens with 21 points. Parker was 6-of-14 from the field and 8-of-8 from the stripe. Terrence Hargrove Jr. scored 10 points, while Kellen Thames chipped in with nine.
• SLU shot 35.7 percent from the field and connected on just 4-of-20 3-pointers. The Billikens were 17-of-18 from the line.
• VCU shot 50 percent and drilled seven 3-pointers in the second half. The Rams were led by Joe Bamisile, who scored 29 points off the bench on 10-of-13 shooting from the field and 7-of-10 from 3-point range.

ABOUT THE RAMS    

• The Virginia Commonwealth University (Richmond, Va.) Rams enter Friday's game 16-8 overall and 8-3 in Atlantic 10 Conference play.
• The Rams have won eight of their last nine, which included wins against first-place Dayton and Richmond. VCU entered the week of Feb. 12 tied for second in the league standings.
• Max Shulga leads the Rams in scoring (14.5 ppg), 3-pointers made (57) and assists (90). The Utah State transfer also shoots 86.7 (98-113) percent from the charity stripe.
• Joe Bamisile has appeared in 14 games off the bench and averages 12.2 ppg. Also scoring in double figures are Zeb Jackson (11.6 ppg) and Sean Bairstow (10.5 ppg). Bairstow is another Utah State transfer.
• VCU is one of the league's top defensive teams. The Rams lead the A-10 in field-goal percentage defense (.395) and 3-point field-goal percentage defense (.287).
• Ryan Odom is in his first season at VCU. He led Utah State to the NCAA Tournament last year and also guided UMBC to the NCAA Tournament in 2018, when the 16th-seeded Retrievers famously defeated No. 1 seed Virginia in the first round.

SERIES HISTORY        

• VCU leads the all-time series 15-5 and has won four in a row, including three wins against the Billikens last year.
• The Rams own a 5-4 record in games played at Chaifetz Arena.
• The Billikens' last win in the series came on Senior Day in 2021-22, a 69-65 win at Chaifetz Arena.