Saint Louis Billikens

Luke Hancock scored 21 points and defending national champion Louisville beat Saint Louis 66-51 on Saturday and advance to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament for the third straight year.

Saint Louis, which has never been to the Sweet 16, lost in the third round of the tournament for the third consecutive year. Dwayne Evans led the Billikens with 16 points and Atlantic 10 player of the year Jordair Jett finished with 15.

The Billikens were down 25-16 at the half and Louisville missed their first ten shots in the first six minutes of the second half as the Billikens took a 29-27 lead on a Rob Loe layup.  The Cardinals (31-5) shot under 45 percent, had 19 turnovers and only got 11 points from star Russ Smith.

Louisville responded with an 8-2 run to grab the lead and control of the game from that point on.

Louisville moves on the Midwest Regional semifinals in Indianapolis against either No. 1 seed Wichita State or No. 8 seed Kentucky. The unbeaten Shockers and Wildcats meet Sunday in St. Louis.

Saint Louis Billikens senior Rob Loe puts a shot up against NC State. (Photo/SLU Athletics)

Rob Loe scored 22 points and added a game- and career-high 15 rebounds, to lead No. 5 seed Saint Louis to an 83-80 overtime victory over No. 12 seed North Carolina State in the second round Midwest Region game of the NCAA Tournament Thursday night at the Amway Center.

SLU trailed 55-39 after the ACC player of the year, N.C. State’s T.J. Warren, turned an offensive rebound into a layup with 8:13 remaining. He led the Wolfpack with 28 points.

Jett scored nine points and Dwayne Evans added five in a 16-6 run that made it a 61-55 game, with 2:16 to play. N.C. State (22-14) got lead to eight points twice.

N.C. State, which attempted a season-high 37 free throws (20-of-37), left the door open by missing two of four from the line in the final 45 seconds. Meanwhile, Loe’s driving layup drew the Bills to within a point, 69-68, and Jett’s drive tied it at 70 with 18.8 left.

Jett was fouled, but his free throw for the lead rimmed out. Tyler Lewis’ attempt at a game-winner was just off the mark, sending the game into overtime.

Loe broke a tie in OT when drove the baseline for a dunk that put the Billikens in front for good.

The Billikens (27-6) advance to play either No. 4 seed Louisville, the defending national champion, who just got past No. 13 seed Manhattan. SLU and L’ville play Saturday in a third-round game. Tip time and TV information are yet to be determined.

The Saint Louis Billikens practiced for 40 minutes on Wednesday ahead of their NCAA Tournament game. (photo/SLUBillikens.com)

The Saint Louis Billikens held a 40-minute open practice and got themselves familiar with the shooting background at the Amway Center in Orlando, FL., Wednesday afternoon in preparation for their NCAA Tournament game against North Carolina State Thursday at 6:20 p.m. (CDT).

The Billikens (26-6), who enter the NCAA Tournament ranked No. 21 in the USA Today coaches’ poll and No. 25 by the Associated Press, are the No. 5 seed in the Midwest Region. SLU captured the Atlantic 10 Conference regular-season championship for a second consecutive year, but lost last Friday to St. Bonaventure in the A-10 Tournament on a last second shot. The Billikens lost four of five, but senior center Rob Loe is not concerned.

We’re good. We didn’t end conference play the way we wanted to, but we had fire. We’ve had fire in practices. We’ve had some great practices this last week, and I think we want to prove that we’re still a great team. We let it slip a little bit there at the end of the season, but we’re out to prove that we’re still a great team.”

North Carolina State (22-13) of the Atlantic Coast Conference, the No. 12 Midwest seed, advanced to Orlando by defeating Xavier 74-59 Tuesday night in a First Four matchup in Dayton, Ohio.

The SLU-North Carolina State winner will play either No. 4 seed and defending national champion Louisville (29-5) or No. 13 seed Manhattan (25-7) in the round of 32 Saturday.

The Saint Louis Billikens earned a No. 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament. (photo/SLU Athletics)

The Saint Louis Billikens, the A-10 regular-season champions, who got bounced in the first round of the A-10 Tournament by St. Bonaventure on Friday, enter the NCAA Tournament with a difficult 5 vs. 12 matchup on Thursday from Orlando, FL., in the Midwest Regional.

The Billikens, 26-6, will face the winner of NC State (21-13) and Xavier (21-12).

Jordair Jett was named the Atlantic-10 player of the year, who led the Billikens in scoring in A-10 play with 17 ppg. For the season, he averaged 13.8 ppg and led the team with 4.7 assists per game. Jett is the first Billiken to be named a conference Player of the Year since 1981, when David Burns earned the Metro Conference’s top honor.

Head coach Jim Crews was named the A-10 coach of the year for the second straight year. The Billikens are one of a few schools in a country who start five seniors. The senior class, comprised of Jake Barnett, Dwayne Evans, Jett, Rob Loe and Mike McCall Jr. are the winningest class in school history with 92 victories.

Wichita State, the only undefeated team at 34-0 is a No. 1 seed in the Midwest Regional and will face the winner of Cal Poly/Texas Southern’s play-in game.  The Shockers, who just won the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament in St. Louis, would face the winner of 8-Kentucky vs. 9-Kansas State.

In the South Regional, Kansas earned the No. 2 seed and will play Eastern Kentucky on Friday in St. Louis. The Jayhawks would play the winner of 7-New Mexico vs. 10-Stanford.

St. Bonaventure rallies and stuns the Billikens. (photo/A-10 Conference)

Jordan Gathers hit a three-pointer at the buzzer, as St. Bonaventure stunned 18th ranked 18 Saint Louis 71-68 in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 tournament. Saint Louis forward Dwayne Evans, who had hit three, three-pointers all season, made one with 20.9 seconds left to tie the game at 68-68.

Mike McCall scored 21 for Saint Louis (26-6), which lost its first game in its attempt to defend its A-10 tournament title. The Billikens have dropped four of five after stringing together 19-straight wins to get into the top 10 in the national rankings.

Saint Louis led by as many as 13 in the first half, but the bigger Bonnies took their first lead with just over nine minutes left in the game.

The Saint Louis Billikens are looking for a strong run in the A-10 tournament. (photo/SLUBillikens.com)

After winning its second Atlantic 10 Conference regular-season title for the second year in a row, the Saint Louis Billikens men’s basketball team is the No. 1 seed in this week’s A-10 Championship at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. SLU will open play in the tourney Friday, March 14, at 11 a.m. (CT) against the winner of No. 8 La Salle and No. 9 St. Bonaventure, who play Thursday at 11 a.m. (CT). All games Thursday and Friday will be televised on either NBCSN or the NBCSN regional network.

If the Billikens win Friday, their semifinal matchup will be at 12:30 p.m. (CT) Saturday on CBS Sports Network. The A-10 Championship game is scheduled for Sunday at noon (CT) on CBS.  Saint Louis is looking to repeat as A-10 tournament championships. Last season, the top-seeded Billikens defeated Charlotte, Butler and VCU en route to capturing the league title.

A-10 Bracket

Saint Louis University Billikens Dwayne Evans has his shot blocked by Dayton Flyers Matt Kavanaugh in the first half at the Chaifetz Arena in St. Louis on March 5, 2014. UPI/Bill Greenblatt

Dwayne Evans scored a game-high 18 points, but Saint Louis dropped its third straight in a 72-67 loss to Dayton Wednesday night at Chaifetz Arena.  The No. 16-ranked Billikens still claimed a share of the Atlantic 10 Conference regular-season championship and the top seed at next week’s A-10 tournament with a Saint Joseph’s loss at George Washington Wednesday evening. SLU (25-5 overall, 12-3 A-10) can win the A-10 regular-season title outright with a win at Massachusetts Sunday, March 9.

On Senior Night, the Billikens’ five seniors — who make up the winningest class in program history — were the team’s top five scorers. Mike McCall Jr. scored 10 points and Jordair Jett added nine on 7-of-11 shooting from the free-throw line. Jett also had a game-high four assists.  Rob Loe recorded nine points while Jake Barnett canned two 3-pointers en route to seven points.

Dayton held a 68-59 lead, its largest of the contest, with 3:39 remaining. But an 8-0 run by the Bills pulled them within one with 34 seconds to go. The Flyers responded by hitting four consecutive free throws to seal the win. 

Saint Louis’s regular-season finale against UMass tips off at 1 p.m. CST. The game will be televised on CBS Sports Network. The A-10 tournament begins March 12 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Story courtesy of SLUBillikens.com

Saint Louis vs. VCU basketball. (photo courtesy Scott Brown photography for VCU Athletics)

Saint Louis suffered its second straight defeat Saturday, losing 67-56 at VCU in Atlantic 10 Conference men’s basketball action.

The loss, the first on the road this season for the Billikens, drops their record to 25-4 overall and 12-2 in the A-10. Saint Louis can still clinch the No. 1 seed in the A-10 Championship in Brooklyn with a win in any if its final two regular-season games – at home against Dayton Wednesday and at UMass next Sunday.

VCU, which has won 19 in a row at home dating back to last season, improves to 22-7 overall and 10-4 in the league.

The Billikens were led in scoring by Jordair Jett, who hit 8 of 14 shots en route to 18 points. Austin McBroom was 3-of-6 from the field and 4-of-4 from the line to account for his 11 points.

SLU was forced into 17 turnovers, which the Rams turned in to 23 points.

Saint Louis returns to action Wednesday, March 5, against Dayton at Chaifetz Arena. Game time is scheduled for 8 p.m.

Duquesne Dukes Jerry Jones gets by Saint Louis University Billikens Jordair Jett for two points late in the second half at the Chaifetz Arena. UPI/Bill Greenblatt

Duquesne used an 18-2 second-half run to pull off a 71-64 upset of Saint Louis Thursday night at Chaifetz Arena. Saint Louis (25-3, 12-1 Atlantic 10), ranked No. 8 in the USA Today coaches’ poll and No. 10 by the Associated Press, was denied a 20th consecutive victory that would have clinched a tie for the A-10 regular-season crown. Duquesne (12-15, 4-10), which lost to SLU 76-72 in Pittsburgh Jan. 22, won for just the second time in eight games.

Mike McCall Jr. led the Billikens with 18 points, just one off his career high. McCall Jr. was 3-of-5 from 3-point range and 7-of-8 from the foul line, and he added three assists.  Jordair Jett had 13 points (6-of-9 FG) to go with three assists and a game-high-tying three steals. Rob Loe tossed in 12 points, and Dwayne Evans tallied 10 points and a game-high 12 rebounds for his seventh double-double of the season.

“Tonight we didn’t play well enough,” head coach Jim Crews said. “They’re all tough games. We had no license that we’re going to win. One team is going to win, one team is going to lose. Whoever plays the best, that’s all it is. Duquesne played better.”