SLU senior Terrence Hargrove makes a move against two Southern Indiana defenders in the Billikens’ win, Monday night at Chaifetz Arena. (Photo: Thomas Grove)
| NCAA Men’s Basketball | 1 | 2 | Final |
|---|---|---|---|
| Southern Indiana (0-1) | 25 | 38 | 63 |
| Saint Louis University (1-0) | 37 | 38 | 75 |
Cedric Williams
Senior Editor
ST. LOUIS, MO — When planning for the new basketball season, Saint Louis University men’s coach Travis Ford had a couple of different ideas about who might be in the rotation to play the center spot for the Billikens.
Saint Louis had a couple of different players with great size and ability transfer in and Ford was anxious to see which one might emerge as his primary five-man.
But injuries and eligibility complications from those transfers forced Ford to go with someone he wasn’t expecting when spring practice began — fifth senior Terrence Hargrove, Jr.
The issue wasn’t not believing Hargrove could play center. It was that at 6-5, he’s a little undersized for the center spot.
But somebody forgot to tell that to the Hargrove, who made his first start ever at the five and absolutely dominated the night, as he matched a career-high 27 points and added a new career-high 15 rebounds to lead Saint Louis to a 75-63 win over Southern Indiana, Monday evening at Chaifetz Arena.
“I hope that’s who we see every game,” Ford said, in a postgame press conference. “I said, ‘You messed up now, T.J.’ We all know he has it in him. It’s not about the numbers; it’s about the approach he had. These guys are sick of hearing me talk about rebounding and I think he kinda took it upon himself a little bit.”
And it was a truly brilliant performance for the East St. Louis-native, who had a double-double, with 11 points and 10 rebounds, at halftime. Hargrove went on the make eight-of-15 shots, including four-of-six from three-point land, as he helped the Billikens turn an early three-point lead into a 12-point edge by halftime.
It was Hargrove’s three-point play, which included a sprawling lay-up and a made free throw that allowed SLU to grab its largest first-half lead at 37-23, just before halftime.
“I told him, he’s playing like he’s been here for four years,” guard Gibson Jimerson said. “He was great, playing at a position he’s not used to. He creates so many mismatches. He’s great at setting screens and the rebounding, even though he’s undersized. He gave it everything he had and played a helluva game.”
Billiken teammate Larry Hughes II had 12 points, including three made three-pointers, while Jimerson added nine points and a game-high five assists and Sincere Parker had eight points.
Southern Indiana’s Jordan Tillman scored 15 points to lead the Screaming Eagles.
The story of the night though, was Hargrove, who helped Saint Louis overcome a large height disadvantage by powering the Billikens to a 45-42 rebounding edge, which included 13 offensive rebounds that were converted into 16 second-chance points.
“We’ve been talking about rebounding so much, I’ve been talking about rebounding so much,” Ford said. “It was great to see the effort these guys put into going after every single one. We’re going to have to do that and be like that, if we’re gonna have the year we wanna have.”
SLU will be right back in action on Wednesday, when it will host Lincoln University. That contest is scheduled to tip off at 7 p.m.
The Billikens will then conclude their busy opening week by hosting Illinois State on Saturday night.
Southern Indiana 63
| ## | Player | GS | MIN | FG | 3PT | FT | ORB-DRB | REB | PF | A | TO | BLK | STL | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 05 | Campion,Jack | * | 18 | 4-8 | 0-2 | 1-3 | 0-3 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 9 |
| 21 | Smith,AJ | * | 22 | 3-6 | 1-4 | 0-0 | 0-4 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7 |
| 00 | Hall,Ryan | * | 31 | 3-11 | 0-5 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| 10 | Mielke,Jack | * | 20 | 2-4 | 2-4 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 |
| 50 | Hittle,Nick | * | 6 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 03 | Tillmon,Jordan | 28 | 5-15 | 1-3 | 4-4 | 2-6 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 15 | |
| 52 | Powell,Kiyron | 18 | 4-6 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 4-1 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 8 | |
| 13 | Mervis,Sam | 16 | 2-3 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-5 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |
| 04 | Causwell,Nolan | 14 | 2-5 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-4 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |
| 33 | Hernandez,Jeremiah | 13 | 2-5 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 1-1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4 | |
| 01 | Moore,Javius | 14 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| TM | TEAM | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Totals | – | 200 | 27-65 | 4-18 | 5-8 | 8-34 | 42 | 22 | 14 | 12 | 8 | 2 | 63 |
Saint Louis 75
| ## | Player | GS | MIN | FG | 3PT | FT | ORB-DRB | REB | PF | A | TO | BLK | STL | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22 | Hargrove Jr., Terrence | * | 28 | 8-15 | 4-6 | 7-8 | 4-11 | 15 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 27 |
| 02 | Hughes II, Larry | * | 25 | 4-11 | 3-6 | 1-2 | 0-2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 12 |
| 24 | Jimerson, Gibson | * | 35 | 3-10 | 1-5 | 2-2 | 2-2 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| 21 | Parker, Sincere | * | 23 | 3-12 | 0-2 | 2-5 | 1-2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 |
| 07 | Meadows Jr., Michael | * | 29 | 1-3 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 1-3 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 05 | Dalger, Tim | 19 | 2-7 | 0-0 | 2-4 | 1-6 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | |
| 01 | Medley, Cian | 20 | 1-2 | 1-1 | 2-2 | 0-2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | |
| 00 | Thames, Kellen | 18 | 2-5 | 0-1 | 0-1 | 2-2 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | |
| 15 | van Bussel, Stef | 3 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 1-1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| TM | TEAM | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1-1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Totals | – | 200 | 24-66 | 9-21 | 18-28 | 13-32 | 45 | 14 | 13 | 6 | 1 | 7 | 75 |
2023-24 SLU Billikens Men’s Basketball Schedule
| Date | Gametime | At | Opponent | Location | TV | Radio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| November 8, 2023 (Wednesday) | 7 pm | Home | Lincoln (Mo.) | Chaifetz Arena | BSMW & ESPN+ | KMOX 1120AM |
| November 11, 2023 (Saturday) | 7 pm | Home | Illinois State | Chaifetz Arena | BSMW EXTRA & ESPN+ | KMOX 1120AM |
| November 16, 2023 (Thursday) | 1 pm | Neutral | Wyoming | Conway, S.C. (HTC Center) | ESPN2 | KMOX 1120AM |
| November 17, 2023 (Friday) | 11a/1:30p | Neutral | Charleston or Vermont | Conway, S.C. (HTC Center) | ESPN Networks | KMOX 1120AM |
| November 19, 2023 (Sunday) | Time TBA | Neutral | TBA | Conway, S.C. (HTC Center) | ESPN Networks | KMOX 1120AM |
| November 25, 2023 (Saturday) | 7 pm | Home | Dartmouth | Chaifetz Arena | BSMW & ESPN+ | KMOX 1120AM |
| November 28, 2023 (Tuesday) | 7 pm | Home | Utah State | Chaifetz Arena | BSMW EXTRA & ESPN+ | KMOX 1120AM |
| December 2, 2023 (Saturday) | 2:30 pm | Away | Southern Illinois | Carbondale, Ill. (Banterra Center) | KMOX 1120AM | |
| December 6, 2023 (Wednesday) | 7 pm | Away | Drake | Des Moines, Iowa (Knapp Center) | KMOX 1120AM | |
| December 9, 2023 (Saturday) | 2 pm | Home | Hofstra | Chaifetz Arena | BSMW & ESPN+ | KMOX 1120AM |
| December 16, 2023 (Saturday) | 7 pm | Home | Louisiana Tech | Chaifetz Arena | BSMW EXTRA & ESPN+ | KMOX 1120AM |
| December 20, 2023 (Wednesday) | 6 pm | Away | NC State | Raleigh, N.C. (PNC Arena) | KMOX 1120AM | |
| January 3, 2024 (Wednesday) | 6 pm | Home | Loyola Chicago | Chaifetz Arena | BSMW & ESPN+ | KMOX 1120AM |
| January 6, 2024 (Saturday) | 1 pm | Away | George Mason | Fairfax, Va. (EagleBank Arena) | USA Network | KMOX 1120AM |
| January 10, 2024 (Wednesday) | 6 pm | Home | Saint Joseph’s | Chaifetz Arena | CBSSN | KMOX 1120AM |
| January 16, 2024 (Tuesday) | 7 pm | Away | Dayton | Dayton, Ohio (UD Arena) | CBSSN | KMOX 1120AM |
| January 19, 2024 (Friday) | 6 pm | Away | VCU | Richmond, Va. (Siegel Center) | ESPN2 | KMOX 1120AM |
| January 24, 2024 (Wednesday) | 6 pm | Home | Davidson | Chaifetz Arena | BSMW & ESPN+ | KMOX 1120AM |
| January 27, 2024 (Saturday) | 7 pm | Home | Massachusetts | Chaifetz Arena | BSMW & ESPN+ | KMOX 1120AM |
| January 30, 2024 (Tuesday) | 7 pm | Away | Loyola Chicago | Chicago, Ill. (Gentile Arena) | BSMW & ESPN+ | 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) | BSMW & ESPN+ | 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) | BSMW & ESPN+ | KMOX 1120AM |
| February 24, 2024 (Saturday) | 2 pm | Home | George Washington | Chaifetz Arena | BSMW & ESPN+ | KMOX 1120AM |
| February 28, 2024 (Wednesday) | 7 pm | Home | Richmond | Chaifetz Arena | BSMW & ESPN+ | 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) |