SLU big man Bradley Ezewiro looks for someone to pass to during the Billikens’ game against UMass, Saturday night at Chaifetz Arena. (Photo: Thomas Grove)
| NCAA Men’s Basketball | 1 | 2 | Final |
|---|---|---|---|
| UMass (13-7, 4-4) | 41 | 43 | 84 |
| SLU (8-12, 1-6) | 36 | 37 | 73 |
Cedric Williams
Senior Editor
ST. LOUIS, MO — The Saint Louis University men’s basketball team suffered its fourth straight loss and seventh in its last eight games, Saturday night, when it fell 84-73 to Massachusetts, in an Atlantic 10 Conference game at Chaifetz Arena.
A hyped up crowd of 7,423 — the largest for a Saint Louis home game this season — watched as SLU led early, but fell behind late in the first half. The Billikens continued to battled throughout the second half, but could never quite come all the way back.
UMass led 41-36 at halftime and built its lead to as many as 11 points midway through the second half. SLU was able to cut its deficit to three points once and four points twice, but that was as close as the Billikens could get before finally falling at the end.
“It’s hard. You may not understand what we’re doing out there,” SLU head coach Travis Ford said. “We change every game what we’re trying to do. We don’t leave and go home. We’ll be here until 2 in the morning trying to figure it out.”
Defense was the primary problem for the Billikens, who allowed 80 points for the third straight game and the ninth time in 20 games this season. Through Saturday night’s games, Saint Louis is one of the lowest ranked defensive teams in the country and that continued to show throughout the night, as the Billikens just couldn’t get enough stops to hold UMass down.
“We thought we were implementing things defensively today that were going to help our team one on one,” Ford said. “Every game plan is a little different. We need to look at pressing or zoning … Our zone’s not very good. I can 100% assure you we’re trying to figure this out.”
Offensively, four different Billikens scored in double figures, led by junior Gibson Jimerson, who had 16 points, including a three-pointer with just over six minutes to go made the score 66-63.
Unfortunately, that was as close as SLU would get, even though sophomore Larry Hughes II had a career-high 14 points, junior big man Bradley Ezewiro had 12 points, and Terrence Hargrove had 10. Mike Meadows had nine points and seven assists, and Serbian freshman Djordje Curcic came off the bench to score eight points.
“We tried a little bit tonight,” Ford said. “It’s hard when they’re scoring every possession. We can’t survive giving up more than 80 points a game at home or anywhere. Offensively we did some good things, but we had some guys not play well offensively.”
Saint Louis is now 8-12 on the year and 1-6 in the A-10. The Billikens will be back in action on Tuesday, when they’ll take on Loyola-Chicago in a road game at Gentile Arena in Chicago.
SLU’s next home game will be February 3, when the Billikens will host Fordham.
Massachusetts 84
| ## | Player | GS | MIN | FG | 3PT | FT | ORB-DRB | REB | PF | A | TO | BLK | STL | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 33 | Cross,Matt | * | 35 | 6-11 | 1-4 | 6-6 | 2-3 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 19 |
| 03 | Diggins,Rahsool | * | 33 | 5-10 | 2-6 | 3-5 | 1-5 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 15 |
| 05 | Thompson,Keon | * | 34 | 4-13 | 2-4 | 4-4 | 0-5 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 14 |
| 23 | Cohen,Josh | * | 21 | 2-4 | 0-0 | 4-6 | 2-1 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| 11 | Ndjigue,Jayden | * | 28 | 3-4 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 1-1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| 02 | Curry,Jaylen | 16 | 4-8 | 1-2 | 2-2 | 0-2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 11 | |
| 01 | Hankins-Sanford,Daniel | 24 | 4-8 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 4-6 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 8 | |
| 04 | Davis Jr.,Robert | 9 | 1-3 | 1-3 | 0-0 | 1-1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | |
| TM | TEAM | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 3-0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Totals | – | 200 | 29-61 | 7-22 | 19-23 | 14-24 | 38 | 14 | 13 | 7 | 5 | 8 | 84 |
Saint Louis University 73
| ## | Player | GS | MIN | FG | 3PT | FT | ORB-DRB | REB | PF | A | TO | BLK | STL | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24 | Jimerson, Gibson | * | 37 | 5-13 | 3-8 | 3-4 | 0-1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| 02 | Hughes II, Larry | * | 24 | 5-9 | 4-6 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 14 |
| 03 | Ezewiro, Bradley | * | 20 | 4-4 | 0-0 | 4-5 | 0-3 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 12 |
| 22 | Hargrove Jr., Terrence | * | 27 | 3-6 | 2-5 | 2-2 | 1-3 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 07 | Meadows Jr., Michael | * | 32 | 4-9 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 9 |
| 04 | Curcic, Djordje | 6 | 2-3 | 1-2 | 3-3 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 8 | |
| 21 | Parker, Sincere | 14 | 0-6 | 0-2 | 2-2 | 1-1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| 15 | van Bussel, Stef | 8 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 3-0 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| 00 | Thames, Kellen | 18 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-5 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| 01 | Medley, Cian | 8 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 12 | Zhang, Bruce | 6 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| TM | TEAM | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 3-2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Totals | – | 200 | 24-55 | 11-25 | 14-16 | 8-21 | 29 | 19 | 16 | 12 | 1 | 5 | 73 |
2023-24 SLU Billikens Men’s Basketball Schedule
| Date | Gametime | At | Opponent | Location | TV | Radio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 30, 2024 (Tuesday) | 7 pm | Away | Loyola Chicago | Chicago, Ill. (Gentile Arena) | Bally Sports Midwest | KMOX 1120AM |
| February 3, 2024 (Saturday) | 1:30 pm | Home | Fordham | Chaifetz Arena | USA Network | KMOX 1120AM |
| February 7, 2024 (Wednesday) | 5:30 pm | Away | La Salle | Philadelphia, Pa. (Gola Arena) | Bally Sports Midwest | KMOX 1120AM |
| February 10, 2024 (Saturday) | 11:30 am | Away | Saint Joseph’s | Philadelphia, Pa. (Hagan Arena) | USA Network | KMOX 1120AM |
| February 16, 2024 (Friday) | 6 pm | Home | VCU | Chaifetz Arena | ESPN2 | KMOX 1120AM |
| February 20, 2024 (Tuesday) | 6 pm | Away | Duquesne | Pittsburgh, Pa. (UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse) | Bally Sports Midwest | KMOX 1120AM |
| February 24, 2024 (Saturday) | 2 pm | Home | George Washington | Chaifetz Arena | Bally Sports Midwest | KMOX 1120AM |
| February 28, 2024 (Wednesday) | 7 pm | Home | Richmond | Chaifetz Arena | Bally Sports Midwest | KMOX 1120AM |
| March 2, 2024 (Saturday) | 3 pm | Away | Rhode Island | Kingston, R.I. (Ryan Center) | CBSSN | KMOX 1120AM |
| March 5, 2024 (Tuesday) | 8 pm | Home | Dayton | Chaifetz Arena | CBSSN | KMOX 1120AM |
| March 9, 2024 (Saturday) | 11:30 am | Away | St. Bonaventure | St. Bonaventure, N.Y. (Reilly Center) | USA Network | KMOX 1120AM |
| March 12-17 Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament | TBA | Neutral | TBA | Brooklyn, N.Y. (Barclay’s Center) |