ST. LOUIS – Behind a balanced scoring attack and a crushing defensive effort, Saint Louis improved to 17-1 overall and 5-0 in the Atlantic 10 Conference with an 88-63 win over Richmond Saturday afternoon in front of 9,266 fans at Chaifetz Arena.
The Billikens are just the second team in program history to win 17 of their first 18 games. The 1993-94 team started 19-1. SLU extended its overall winning streak to 11 – ranking among the top 10 longest active streaks in NCAA Division I – and its Chaifetz Arena winning streak to a school-record 16.
Kellen Thames led five Billikens in double figures with 16 points, topping the SLU scoring chart for a third time in the last four games.
Robbie Avila scored 14,
Amari McCottry registered 12, and
Dion Brown and
Brady Dunlap tossed in 10 apiece.
Trey Green (nine) and
Ishan Sharma (eight) narrowly missed double figures.
Brown grabbed a game-high eight rebounds to lead the Bills to a 46-31 advantage on the glass. McCottry, Avila and Sharma collected six boards apiece.
Sharma recorded a career- and game-high five assists, while Brown's three steals equaled his career best and the game high.
Saint Louis committed only nine turnovers, the sixth time in the last 10 games the Billikens have limited their miscues to single digits. SLU outscored Richmond 36-20 in points in the paint.
The Bills led throughout, racing to a 14-2 lead in the game's first six minutes as Avila (five) and McCottry (four) combined for the first nine points. The Spiders, who shot just 33.9 percent (20-of-59) overall and 30 percent (6-of-20) from 3-point range, did not tally a field goal until the 13:45 mark.
A 9-0 spurt turned an 18-10 lead into a 27-10 cushion with 7:44 remaining in the first half. A 12-2 flurry, punctuated by two Dunlap 3-pointers, gave the Billikens their largest first-half advantage at 41-17 on the way to a 43-22 halftime lead.
The margin swelled to 32 points late in the second half.
Up next for the Billikens is a trip to Duquesne Tuesday, Jan. 20, for a 6 p.m. Central tip-off.
