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Saint Louis wins third straight, improves to 2-0 in A10 play with home win over St. Joe’s

It was a hard decision not to go with a Big Ten story on back-to-back days, with Michigan State getting a big road win and Wisconsin setting a program record for made three-pointers on Friday night, but the Billikens have been a story waiting to burst. Saint Louis has finally gotten healthy and the team under former Indiana State head coach Josh Schertz is starting to click.

Isaiah Swope led the way on Friday night with 26 points on 9-15 shooting, and as proven by this performance, he’s been much more effective when Gibson Jimerson and Robbie Avila, SLU’s other top scorers, have been available. Jimerson has played every game this season but has struggled to find his form in a consistent manner, now sharing the floor with two other stars. Avila’s injury in early November derailed both his and SLU’s start, but after watching last night’s game, I got the feeling that the man who took the spotlight in February last season at Indiana State is well and truly back.

As for Friday’s performance, everything clicked for the Billikens from start to finish as they led for about 38 minutes of the contest against one of the Atlantic 10’s most talented teams in St. Joseph’s. Halfway through the second half, St. Joe’s cut a once 12-point deficit to two, but the final six minutes saw timely buckets from all three members of Saint Louis’s star trio. Swope finished with 26 points and eight rebounds, Avila posted a 21-8-5 stat line with four made threes, and Jimerson chipped in nine points after dropping 33 against Fordham on New Year’s Eve.

Saint Louis was a team with a lot of preseason hype in the Atlantic 10 following the arrivals of Schertz, Swope, and Avila, but we never really saw what this squad was capable of in the non-conference slate. The Billikens dropped games to Wichita State and San Francisco in blowout fashion, and fell short against Santa Clara, Illinois State, Grand Canyon, and Wofford through their opening 12 games. Now 9-6 (2-0 A10), everything lays in front of Saint Louis in Atlantic 10 play. The Billikens will need their star trio to stay on its game over the course of January, with St. Bonaventure, VCU, and Dayton all coming to town before the end of the month, and a road trip to VCU to come on January 14.

Other Things to Note:

• #8 Marquette survives Creighton late, Kam Jones goes for 22 points & 9 rebounds
• #18 Michigan State handles Ohio State on the road behind Szymon Zapala’s 15 points
• Wisconsin sets program record, hits 21 threes in 116-85 demolition of Iowa
• #6 Florida heads to Lexington for big-time clash on SEC opening day against #10 Kentucky (11:00 ET, ESPN)
• #12 Oklahoma faces tough task to stay undefeated with matchup at #5 Alabama (6:00 ET, SECN)