SIUE Falls to SLU
Ray Lester prepares for the jump ball.
By Joey Wagner
November 13, 2013
The Valadebene Center was rocking Wednesday night as SIUE welcomed the Saint Louis Billikens to their home court for the first time ever, eventually falling to SLU by a final score of 82-58.
The atmosphere was electric which helped the Cougars to get out to an early 4-0 lead against the Billikens. However, that lead didn’t last long as the Billikens adjusted to the defense and got it rolling early in the first half. A 16-0 run by the Billikens midway through the first all but sealed the fate for SIUE.
Senior guard Jordair Jett led the way for the Billikens with 16 points on the night. He also contributed three rebounds and two assists for SLU.
Early on, sophomore guard Donavine Stewart carried the load offensively for SIUE accounting for six of their first eight points on the night before finally running his total up to a team-high 14 points.
The Cougars came out playing small ball with Ray Lester being the tallest man on the court at 6’6. Coach Lennox Forrester went to his bench early bringing 6’10 Keaton Jackson in to give the Cougars height against the ahtletic SLU frontcourt.
The Billikens set the tone of the game with their half court defense. Saint Louis parlayed their tenacious defense to the offensive end leading to their 16-0 run to break the game open.
“Coach told us to be aggressive on offense and aggressive on defense, and that’s kind of what we did,” Jett said.
The Cougars struggled to get to the rim due in large part to the defensive efforts by senior Rob Loe and junior John Manning protecting the rim. The defense of the Billikens was not limited to their front court; they played strong on-ball defense throughout the game.
The Billikens defense held SIUE to 40 percent shooting from the field and a paltry 21 percent shooting from three-point land. SIUE missed a lot of buckets at the hoop, due in large part to the Billikens contesting every shot.
“They really changed some of our team’s shots which got us out of our rhythm early with the inability to finish around the hoop,” Assistant Coach Mitch Gilfillan said.
Early in the game the perimeter depth of SIUE took a hit when junior guard Kris Davis went down with an ankle injury, Davis would not return to action. Davis did join the team on the bench in the second half with a walking boot on his right foot. According to the team, Davis will be reevaluated tomorrow and they do not have the final prognosis.
Kris Davis returns injured to the bench in the second half.
For SIUE, junior forward Keaton Jackson is turning into a human highlight reel for the team. Jackson came off the bench and recorded a big block on Jett right away. Jackson contributed three thunderous dunks in the second half to get the crowd back into the game.
With ten minutes left in the game, the Cougars switched to a full-court press defense, which produced results and got the fans on their feet. Again, it was Jackson who got the crowd involved, dunking on Tanner Lancona
“Keaton is long and athletic and I think we will use him more effectively in our press from now on. Pressing gives our athletes a chance to get out and run more,” Gilfillan said.
Jackson used his length to force the Billikens into turnovers leading to easy buckets at the other end. Although it was too late for the Cougars in this game, Jackson is developing confidence in his game for games moving forward. A brief 5-0 run with three minutes left in the game gave the fans one last thing to cheer about.
College basketball fans got a taste of the new hand check rule during the Champion’s Classic on ESPN Tuesday night. SIUE and SLU fans got to see the new rules first hand on Wednesday night. The two teams shot a combined 47 free throws, with some credit going to the new hand check rule.
Jett believes this new rule can help him blow past people and get to the hoop, saying that’s what he wants to do moving forward.
Perhaps, the new hand check rule is hardest on the guards and their ability to stay out in front of their opponent, something the Cougars struggled with.
“We must do a better job of sliding our feet, and we will work on that,” Gilfillan said.
For the Billikens, this was a scheduled road game. However, the close proximity to their campus gave this game a different feel for SLU.
“That’s the one thing that made it feel like a real road trip, we stayed in a hotel, but it’s only like 10-15 minutes from school,” Jett said.
With SLU and SIUE being the only two programs in the area with a division one team, this could turn into not only a rivalry on the court, but also on the recruiting trail. Ask any fan in the Valadebene Center on Wednesday night, they would all welcome SLU back to campus.