Billikens Go To 2-0

The Saint Louis University basketball team didn’t get much of a test from Houston Baptist Saturday in the second game of the Hispanic College Fund Challenge at the University of Pittburgh’s Peterson Events Center.

The Billikens had six players score in double-figures and junior guard Tommie Liddell III’s 15 points, seven assists and three steals as SLU cruised to a 91-56 victory over the former NAIA squad.

Junior guard Kevin Lisch, senior center Bryce Husak and freshman forward Marcus Relphorde each scored 14 points. Freshman guard Paul Eckerle had 11 points, while senior forward Luke Meyer added 10.

The Billikens (2-0) opened the game with a 5-0 lead and never trailed.

SLU’s bench was much more of factor than it was in Friday’s 54-43 victory over North Carolina A&T. In that game, the Billikens did not get any points or even field-goal attempts from the four players who came off the bench.

On Saturday, Saint Louis got 43 points from its bench.

Relphorde, the 6-foot-7 freshman from Chicago who did not play in the season opener, had 14 points and seven rebounds in 18 minutes. Husak scored a career-high 14 points and added six rebounds and two blocked shots. Eckerle had 11 points and two assists in 26 minutes.

The Billikens shot 53.1 percent in the first half and 64 percent in the second.

Houston Baptist (1-3) shot 30.8 percent in the first half, 35.7 in the second half and 33.3 percent for the game.

New coach Rick Majerus will learn a lot more about his team on Sunday, when the Billikens play No. 22 Pittsburgh (2-0) in the final game of the Hispanic College Fund Challenge at 5 p.m.

NOTES: No official announcement has been made, but sophomore Dustin Maguire did not play on Saturday, which means he is likely to be redshirted this season. … Walk-ons Peyton Jacks and Mike Jones combined for eight minutes of action and each guard contributed an assist. Jacks also grabbed two rebounds in his five minutes.