GDT: SLU v. Jackson St.

[GDT Bot]

SLU Men's Basketball Game Notes & Information
Game 7	Jackson State (0-7) at Saint Louis (4-2)
Date // Time	Monday, Dec. 2, 2024 // 7 p.m.
Location	St. Louis, Mo. (Chaifetz Arena)
Chaifetz Arena	Tickets | Parking | Clear Bag Policy
Radio	KMOX 1120AM | Varsity Network App (Bob Ramsey, Earl Austin Jr.)
TV	FanDuel Sports Network (Tom Ackerman, Troy Robertson, Tamar Sher)
Stream	ESPN+ | International Streaming | FanDuel Sports Network App
Live Stats	StatBroadcast
Series History	SLU leads 1-0
Game Notes	Saint Louis | Jackson State

SETTING THE SCENE

• Saint Louis hosts the Jackson State Tigers at Chaifetz Arena on Monday night. Game time is 7 p.m.
• This is the final game of a season-long three-game homestand for Saint Louis. After tonight's game the Bills will alternate between home and road games through the rest of 2024.

FOLLOWING THE ACTION

• Monday's game will be televised on FanDuel Sports Network. Tom Ackerman (play-by-play), Troy Robertson (analyst) and Tamar Sher (reporter) will call the action.
• KMOX 1120 AM is the home for Billiken Basketball on the radio. Billiken Hall of Famers and longtime SLU men's basketball radio partners Bob Ramsey and Earl Austin Jr. will the call the action for all SLU games, both at home and on the road. Ramsey is in his 39th season calling SLU games, while Austin is in year No. 34. 
• A special congratulations to Earl Austin Jr. and radio engineer Jim Jackson for their recent inductions into the Missouris Sports Hall of Fame. In addition to calling SLU games, Austin is a respected journalist with the St. Louis American newspaper who has impacted thousands of high school athletes with his story-telling. He also played college basketball at Lindenwood and became the program's all-time leading scorer and rebounder before graduating in 1986. Jackson is the engineer for all Billiken home radio broadcasts and coaches shows. He holds similar roles with the Cardinals radio network and visiting NHL teams. Austin and Jackson were honored Nov. 24 in a ceremony at the Chase Park Plaza.  

BILLIKEN NOTABLES

• Saint Louis is 4-2 overall, with all four victories coming at Chaifetz Arena.
• The Billikens are coming off a wild win against UMass Lowell on Wednesday, Nov. 27. SLU led by as many as 21 in the second half before UMass Lowell nearly tied it twice late. One basket was changed from a 3 to a 2 after video review, and a last-second heave by the River Hawks to send to game to OT was deemed just after the buzzer.
• Isaiah Swope leads the Bills in scoring with 19.5 ppg. He is coming off a massive two-game stretch where he matched his career-high of 30 points in the win over Quinnipiac, then poured in a game-high 26 against UMass Lowell.
• Gibson Jimerson scores 19.2 ppg and is 15th in the NCAA in 3-pointers made per game (3.67). He is second all-time at SLU with 1,940 career points, 33 points (32 to tie) from the school record (1,972) held by Billiken great Anthony Bonner.
• Kalu Anya has recorded back-to-back double-doubles. Through games of Nov. 30, Anya is fifth in the NCAA in rebounds (11.5).
• Robbie Avila (17.7 ppg) and Kellen Thames (11.2 ppg) also score in double figures for the Bills.
• The Billikens are tops in the A-10 in 3-pointers made per game (10.7, 23rd in NCAA) and 3-pointers attempted per game (30.2, 23rd in NCAA).
• Head coach Josh Schertz is in his first season at SLU. His .786 winning percentage ranks No. 7 among active coaches across all three NCAA divisions.

ABOUT THE TIGERS

• Jackson State University (Jackson, Miss.) plays in the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC).
• The Tigers (0-7) are in the midst of playing their first 14 games on the road. They have already played two top-10 teams this season in No. 4 Houston and No. 9 Kentucky, and will face No. 5 Iowa State on Sunday. Jackson State's home opener isn't until Saturday, Jan. 11, 2025, against Alabama State in a SWAC game.
• Jayme Mitchell Jr. leads the Tigers with 13.0 ppg, while Dorian McMillian scores 9.9 ppg. McMillian was named the SWAC Newcomer of the Week this past week after scoring in double figures against WKU, Kentucky and Lipscomb.
• Shannon Grant had a double-double against Vanderbilt with season-high 16 points and 10 rebounds.
• Head coach Mo Williams is in his third year at Jackson State and fifth season overall. Williams, a Jackson, Miss., native, played 13 seasons in the NBA, was an All-Star in 2009, and won an NBA title with the Cavaliers in 2016.

SERIES HISTORY

• This is the second meeting between the two teams.
• Saint Louis won the only previous game, 69-53, at Enterprise Center (then Savvis Center) on Dec. 5, 2005. Anthony Drejaj drilled four second-half treys and finished with 14 points. Ian Vouyoukas had a double-double of 18 points and 13 rebounds.

[Lord Elrond]

[slu72]

What is the word on Casey? He was in a boot I gather at UML game. Is it his ankle, foot, something else. We really need some bench help especially with our inside game. 

[Bay Area Billiken]

Jackson State is 0-7, NET 349.

[billikenbill]

47 minutes ago, slu72 said:

What is the word on Casey? He was in a boot I gather at UML game. Is it his ankle, foot, something else. We really need some bench help especially with our inside game. 

Still out with ankle. No info out there on what type of sprain and severity. If not a high ankle sprain, I could see a return to practice within a week and available for play within 2, but that’s only speculation on my part. A high ankle sprain could be a month or more.

[Pistol]

1 hour ago, Bay Area Billiken said:

Jackson State is 0-7, NET 349.

As far as I can tell, they're still quite a bit better than Chicago State. Going to be an interesting week with a road game at USF sandwiched between those two.

[HoosierPal]

4 minutes ago, Pistol said:

As far as I can tell, they're still quite a bit better than Chicago State. Going to be an interesting week with a road game at USF sandwiched between those two.

NET 359 v NET 349.

0-9 v 0-7.

Not seeing "quite a bit better than Chicago State".  Both are Bad.

[gobillsgo]

1 hour ago, Bay Area Billiken said:

Jackson State is 0-7, NET 349.

Yippee!  Guess I’ll take ‘em over Avila and William Woods

[Bay Area Billiken]

SLU’s Thursday night opponent, the USF Dons, beat SLU’s Sunday afternoon opponent, Chicago State, 82-37 earlier this season. 

USF is good, comparable to Santa Clara, probably basketball skills level better than Wichita State. USF has 2 pretty good, veteran, returning, former transfer guards. 

[slu72]

1 hour ago, Bay Area Billiken said:

SLU’s Thursday night opponent, the USF Dons, beat SLU’s Sunday afternoon opponent, Chicago State, 82-37 earlier this season. 

USF is good, comparable to Santa Clara, probably basketball skills level better than Wichita State. USF has 2 pretty good, veteran, returning, former transfer guards. 

Oh, filled with optimism! But we need a quality opponent. Sounds like we got one in USF. 

[HoosierPal]

 

[Bay Area Billiken]

1 hour ago, slu72 said:

Oh, filled with optimism! But we need a quality opponent. Sounds like we got one in USF. 

Although SLU will be the underdog, @USF is still a winnable game for SLU.  USF is a good team, but not a juggernaut, has been unable to get past Gonzaga and St. Mary's for a long, long time in the WCC, in large measure never in the case of Gonzaga since USF resurrected its program in the mid-1980's after a 3 year hiatus.  Before that hiatus USF was a national power- Bill Cartwright, James Hardy, Winfred Boynes, Chubby Cox, Quintin Dailey, Wallace Bryant. 

When USF and Santa Clara play each other in the ancient rivalry, the records basically get thrown out.  Anything can and does happen. 

[Bay Area Billiken]

First things first, however.  Let's beat Jackson State tonight.  SLU needs some NET points, whatever they are now. 

[VeniceMenace]

4 hours ago, slu72 said:

What is the word on Casey? He was in a boot I gather at UML game. Is it his ankle, foot, something else. We really need some bench help especially with our inside game. 

He was wearing a boot on the bench in previous games but unless I'm mistaken didn't look like he was wearing one anymore during UMass Lowell.

[Old guy]

For those of you still worried about Thames, his roster listing says: "Redshirt Sophomore". He appears to be out of play for the season.

[Bay Area Billiken]

4 minutes ago, Old guy said:

For those of you still worried about Thames, his roster listing says: "Redshirt Sophomore". He appears to be out of play for the year.

Thames received a medical redshirt for his true freshman season, '22-'23, in which he played in only 7 games.  So even though this is his Junior year at SLU, he is a Sophomore in terms of basketball eligibility. 

[thatskablamo]

1 hour ago, Bay Area Billiken said:

Although SLU will be the underdog, @USF is still a winnable game for SLU.  USF is a good team, but not a juggernaut, has been unable to get past Gonzaga and St. Mary's for a long, long time in the WCC, in large measure never in the case of Gonzaga since USF resurrected its program in the mid-1980's after a 3 year hiatus.  Before that hiatus USF was a national power- Bill Cartwright, James Hardy, Winfred Boynes, Chubby Cox, Quintin Dailey, Wallace Bryant. 

When USF and Santa Clara play each other in the ancient rivalry, the records basically get thrown out.  Anything can and does happen. 

Don’t forget Bill Russell.

[thunderdan]

21 minutes ago, Old guy said:

For those of you still worried about Thames, his roster listing says: "Redshirt Sophomore". He appears to be out of play for the season.

Stu said he would play tonight, but would be “limited.”

[Lord Elrond]

Let’s get a win tonight, preferably without the late game drama….

[Lord Elrond]

Looks like plenty of good seats still available….

[slu72]

48 minutes ago, thatskablamo said:

Don’t forget Bill Russell.

Or Sam Jones.,

[slu72]

10 minutes ago, Lord Elrond said:

Looks like plenty of good seats still available….

Is it cold in the Lou? If so, I don’t think JSU is gonna pull folks away from their fireplaces. 

[Lord Elrond]

Slow start, 6-5 Billikens at first media break, many in the crowd seemed to have been napping early in the game.

[slu72]

SLU 6-5? Anyone watching? 

[Lord Elrond]

7 minutes ago, slu72 said:

Is it cold in the Lou? If so, I don’t think JSU is gonna pull folks away from their fireplaces. 

Says 29 degrees, feels like 19. Roads were clear of snow. You seem to be right about interest level in the game