Billikens End Exhibition Slate, and at Least They Didnt Lose

I know nobody really follows this blog, so my absence for the last five months has likely gone unnoticed. If you do follow, you likely figured out that my hiatus was directly linked to the Reds going straight into the crapper. Well, now it is on to another season, and another team that will probably leave me disappointed, the Billikens.

SLU wrapped up their two game exhibition slate on Saturday afternoon with a much-too-close 72-61 victory over St. Ambrose. Sure the Bees are ranked in the Top 15 in the pre-season, but thats in NAIA Division II (yes that does exist). St. Ambrose was actually within two points with about 6 minutes to play.

The most disappointing facet of the Billikens game on Saturday was the interior defenseive play. Normally a strong suit for all SLU clubs, the smaller and quicker St. Ambrose guards were getting to the rim with relative ease. If SLU truly is going to be in the Top 4 of the A-10 this year, Conklin, Remekun, and the boys will have to guard the lane much tougher.

Running a close second in terms of diappointment was the Billikens outside shooting. They made only two three pointers in the game (both by Kyle Cassity) and ended shooting just 2 of 16 (12.5%) from distance.

Kwamain Mitchell was also a non-factor in the game, due mostly to foul trouble. He picked up two in the first half about mid-way through and sat down the rest of the half. He then picked up his fourth foul mid-way through the second half, and his aggressiveness was clearly limited as he tried to just stay on the floor.

I keep telling myself that it is only the exhibition season. I mean look at what happened to Arizona, Butler, and West Virginia, who all lost exhibition games. So at least we didn't lose, but I went into the season thinking this team had the potential to be competitve in the league, and they will not do that playing the way they played against Cardinal Stritch and St. Ambrose.

BILLIKENS PLAYER OF THE GAME

It is easy to pick the player of the game when only one player really looks like he even wants to be on the floor. Dwayne Evans rebounded from a somewhat lackluster performance against Cardinal Stritch to be the best player on the floor Saturday afternoon. Evans finished with 24 points and 12 rebounds and was going hard to the basket for most of those points.

BEES PLAYER OF THE GAME

Chris Donnelly did everything he could to keep his team in the game in the second half. He took advantage of Mitchell's foul trouble and posted him up on the block, and he also took the ball to the hole, showing quickness and athleticism. He finished with 18 points and 8 rebounds in 35 minutes of play.

NEXT UP

The Billikens open up regular season play against Tennessee State on Friday, November 11 at 7:30 PM at Chaifetz Arena. The Tigers return their entire team from last season, a team that finished 14-16 overall and 10-8 in the Ohio Valley Conference. They will be led by 6' 8", 210 pound junior forward Robert Covington.