The Billikens were able to cut a 17-point deficit to three, but could not get any closer. Saint Louis U’s 61-53 defeat at Scottrade Center snapped the team’s 11-game home win streak and dropped the Billikens to 6-5 on the season.
“We made a lot of good plays to get back in it,” senior forward Luke Meyer said. But we have to play with that sense of urgency the whole game and we have to get stops at key times. That’s what killed us tonight.”
Luke Meyer (Whitney Curtis/AP)
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Sam Houston State used an 11-0 run to build a 17-point lead, 49-32, with 7 minutes and 8 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter.
The Billikens rallied behind junior guard Tommie Liddell III, who scored 13 points in the next 6:08 on a variety of drives to the basket and free throws.
Liddell’s putback with 1:00 left cut the Bearkats’ lead to 56-53, but the hosts weren’t able to get any closer than that. Sam Houston State got a 3-pointer from Shamir McDaniel with 24 seconds remaining and then made two free throws in the final 13.8 seconds to ice the game.
Saint Louis made 29.3 percent of their shot attempts (17 of 58), 26.3 percent of their 3-point attempts (five of 19) and 70 percent of their free throw attempts (14 of 20).
Liddell led the Billikens with 17 points, while junior guard Kevin Lisch added 14 and senior center Bryce Husak had 13 points and eight rebounds. Senior guard Dwayne Polk had seven rebounds and five assists.
“This is our 11th game in 33 days with four days off and four road games,” SLU coach Rick Majerus said. “You don’t work on anything. You just try to prepare to play. It is what it is. I’m giving them off tomorrow and I’m giving them off Tuesday because we have an exam-week game. We have a tough game in the middle of exam week and at the end of exam week we have a game. It’s the most craziest scheduling I’ve ever seen in my life.”
Sam Houston State (8-0) got 18 points from DeLuis Ramirez, 13 from McDaniel and 12 from John Gardiner. The Bearkats made 43.4 percent of their shot attempts (23 of 53), 47.1 percent of their 3-point attempts (eight of 17) and 43.8 percent of their free throw attempts (seven of 16).
The Billikens host Southern Illinois at Scottrade Center next Saturday.