GDT: SLU v. San Francisco

[GDT Bot]

SLU Men's Basketball Game Notes & Information
Game 8	Saint Louis (5-2) at San Francisco (6-2)
Date // Time	Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024 // 9 p.m. CT
Location	San Francisco, Calif. (War Memorial Gym/Sobrato Center)
Radio	KMOX 1120AM | Varsity Network App (Bob Ramsey, Earl Austin Jr.)
TV	None
Stream	ESPN+
Live Stats	StatBroadcast
Series History	SLU leads 3-2
Game Notes	Saint Louis | San Francisco

SETTING THE SCENE

• Saint Louis plays its first true road game of the season on Thursday night when it travels to face fellow Jesuit institution San Francisco. Game time at the War Memorial Gym at The Sobrato Center is scheduled for 7 p.m. PT / 9 p.m. St. Louis time.
• The Billikens are now in a stretch where they will alternate home and road games for the rest of December. Coming to Chaifetz Arena this month are Chicago State (Dec. 8), Wofford (Dec. 18) and William Woods (Dec. 28). SLU has road games coming up at Illinois State (Dec. 15) and Grand Canyon (Dec. 22).

FOLLOWING THE ACTION

• Thursday's game will be streamed on ESPN+. Chris Sylvester and Ben Braun will be on the call.
• 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. 

BILLIKEN NOTABLES

• Saint Louis heads to San Francisco with a 5-2 overall record. This is the Billikens' first true road game of the year. SLU is 5-0 in home games at Chaifetz Arena, while its two losses have come at neutral sites in Sioux Falls, S.D. (Santa Clara) and Kansas City, Mo. (Wichita State).
• The Billikens have won three in a row. They are coming off a 74-66 win against Jackson State.
• Gibson Jimerson needs 12 points to break (11 to tie) Anthony Bonner's all-time scoring record at SLU (1,972 points). Jimerson is already the Billikens' all-time leader in 3s made with 337, which is the most among active NCAA Division I players as well.
• Isaiah Swope averages 19.3 ppg. He was named the CollegeInsider.com Lute Olson National Player of the Week on Monday after averaging 28.0 ppg over a two-game stretch against Quinnipiac and UMass Lowell.
• Through games of Dec. 2, Kalu Anya is fifth in the NCAA in rebounds per game (11.4). He recorded double-doubles in the wins against Quinnipiac and UMass Lowell.
• Robbie Avila is back after missing three games due to an ankle injury suffered in the season opener against Santa Clara. He is averaging 17 points, 4.5 assists and 2.5 3-pointers.
• Saint Louis leads the A-10 and is among the top 30 in the NCAA in 3-pointers made per game (10.6).
• 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 DONS

• San Francisco enters Thursday's game 6-2 overall and has won two in a row. The Dons' lone losses have come against Memphis and Clemson, two KenPom top 30 squads.
• Metric-wise, this is the Billikens' top nonconference opponent as USF comes in with a KenPom ranking of 62. The Dons also have a good chance of finishing in the top 75 of the NCAA's NET Ranking (they were 65th last year), which would make this a Quad 1 game. 
• The Dons have gone with the same starting five in all eight games, and all average 7.0 points or better. Guard Malik Thomas leads the way with 17.3 ppg, while guard Tyrone Riley IV scores 13.0 ppg and leads the West Coast Conference in FG% (.597). Guard Marcus Williams averages 11.6 ppg and dishes out a team-best 4.1 assists per contest.
• Forward Ndewedo Newbury is close to double figures with 9.3 ppg. Center Carlton Linguard Jr. contributes 7.0 ppg. Junjie Wang scores 8.0 ppg off the bench for the Dons.
• Last season, San Francisco went 23-11 (11-5 WCC) and made the NIT.
• Head coach Chris Gerlufsen is in his third year at USF with a 49-27 record.

SERIES HISTORY

• The Billikens and Dons are meeting for a sixth time overall and the first time since 1998. SLU leads the series 3-2. The home team has won every game.
• In the game against the Dons in 1997, SLU freshman sensation Larry Hughes scored 29 points to lead the Billikens to the win. Hughes would go on to break the SLU single-season scoring record and enjoy a 14-year NBA career. 
• This is the first leg of a home-and-home series. San Francisco will visit Chaifetz Arena next season.
• War Memorial Gym was built in 1958 after San Francisco won back-to-back NCAA titles in 1955 and 1956. The facility underwent a renovation with the addition of the Sobrato Center in 2021.

 

https://slubillikens.com/news/2024/12/4/mens-basketball-mbb-preview-first-road-test-for-billikens-at-san-francisco.aspx

 

 

 

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[HoosierPal]

https://x.com/JonRothstein/status/1864627779322445997

@JonRothstein

 

The sleeper game of the night in college basketball is in Northern California as San Francisco hosts Saint Louis. The Billikens' backcourt of Isaiah Swope and Gibson Jimerson is elite. The Dons are a top tier WCC team. Jolly good fun!

 

5:08 AM · Dec 5, 2024

25.5K Views

[dlarry]

1 hour ago, HoosierPal said:

https://x.com/JonRothstein/status/1864627779322445997

@JonRothstein

 

The sleeper game of the night in college basketball is in Northern California as San Francisco hosts Saint Louis. The Billikens' backcourt of Isaiah Swope and Gibson Jimerson is elite. The Dons are a top tier WCC team. Jolly good fun!

 

5:08 AM · Dec 5, 2024

25.5K Views

Rothstein seems much more optimistic than I am. 

[Lord Elrond]

Time for a game!

[dlarry]

I need to get home and eat dinner so I have plenty of time to take a nap before tip. 

[juniorbill76]

Hopefully the Bills continue their pattern and rise (or fall) to the level of their competition.

[Box and Won]

[Bay Area Billiken]

I expect USF will challenge Avila's handoffs away from the basket, like USF's arch-rival Santa Clara did.  Even Jackson State did that in the first half.  SLU and Avila have to be ready for that defensive tactic. 

[Bay Area Billiken]

Here in our East Bay office (Pleasant Hill, Contra Costa County) a number of us just received a tsunami warning on our cell phones, to stay away from the Coast.  No kidding.

The Big Billiken Blue Wave is here!

[Bay Area Billiken]

USF sits on a hilltop overlooking the City by the Bay.  Any tsunami should not get anywhere near that high. 

I was shown an earthquake graph on North Coast, 202 miles to the north, near the Oregon Border. 

[Dr. Holly Hills]

They just closed the zoo…

[Bay Area Billiken]

2 minutes ago, Dr. Holly Hills said:

They just closed the zoo…

And the BART Transbay Tube, which wreaks havoc with traffic whenever it happens. 

I just heard an expert on 740 KCBS say a tsunami is unlikely, that the earthquake was horizontal on the sea floor. 

[HoosierPal]

48 minutes ago, Bay Area Billiken said:

Here in our East Bay office (Pleasant Hill, Contra Costa County) a number of us just received a tsunami warning on our cell phones, to stay away from the Coast.  No kidding.

The Big Billiken Blue Wave is here!

https://x.com/studurando/status/1864755815074177329

@studurando·10m

It's been a while since there's been a good SLU travel-related story. The Billikens were on their way to game-day shootaround in San Francisco when phone alerts for the tsunami warning went off in the team bus. Team spokesman said the large earthquake was not felt.

[Bay Area Billiken]

5 minutes ago, HoosierPal said:

https://x.com/studurando/status/1864755815074177329

@studurando·10m

 

It's been a while since there's been a good SLU travel-related story. The Billikens were on their way to game-day shootaround in San Francisco when phone alerts for the tsunami warning went off in the team bus. Team spokesman said the large earthquake was not felt.

Hopefully, Tom Timmermann will be out here too.  I enjoyed his travelogues. 

We didn't feel the quake out here in the East Bay. 

[gobillsgo]

Any chance the earthquake/tsunami warnings affect the game?

[Bay Area Billiken]

BART is back up, normal train service, but systemwide delays.

Tsunami warning canceled. 

[Bay Area Billiken]

1 minute ago, gobillsgo said:

Any chance the earthquake/tsunami warnings affect the game?

I would tend to doubt it.  It might affect us getting across the Bridge. 

[gobillsgo]

6 minutes ago, Bay Area Billiken said:

I would tend to doubt it.  It might affect us getting across the Bridge. 

https://x.com/usfdonsmbb/status/1864766704284504084?s=46&t=nfn8rwvSVcv8bUH2TNwIIw
 

USF just posted this six minutes ago, doubt they would if it was in doubt. 

[slu72]

The Exorcism Curse follows us to Frisco! 

[billikenbill]

22 minutes ago, slu72 said:

The Exorcism Curse follows us to Frisco! 

How did the infamous exorcism turn out?

[NextYearBill]

can they start the game 2 hours earlier for East coasters? 

[Box and Won]

5 minutes ago, billikenbill said:

How did the infamous exorcism turn out?

The exorcised demon left the boy's body and immediately headed to West Pine Gym to possess the SLU men's basketball program.

[Minerva N. Owl]

1 hour ago, Bay Area Billiken said:

Hopefully, Tom Timmermann will be out here too.  I enjoyed his travelogues. 

We didn't feel the quake out here in the East Bay. 

Earthquakes, tsunamis, exorcisms, a missing bus ... anything is possible with SLU. Coach Scherz told us that at the beginning of his coaching career, he worked at a camp run by Rick Majerus. I wonder if Majerus told Scherz about trips to Olean to play the Bonnies.

Bay Area may need to warn Coach Scherz that, apparently having dodged a tsunami, he now might need to worry about the possibility of losing the team bus during the game.

PS It's not directly connected, but somehow the tsunami threat reminds me that it's been a long time since we've seen the video of Majerus commenting on taking the team to Olean. Who has that link?

[Bay Area Billiken]

16 minutes ago, Minerva N. Owl said:

Earthquakes, tsunamis, exorcisms, a missing bus ... anything is possible with SLU. Coach Scherz told us that at the beginning of his coaching career, he worked at a camp run by Rick Majerus. I wonder if Majerus told Scherz about trips to Olean to play the Bonnies.

Bay Area may need to warn Coach Scherz that, apparently having dodged a tsunami, he now might need to worry about the possibility of losing the team bus during the game.

PS It's not directly connected, but somehow the tsunami threat reminds me that it's been a long time since we've seen the video of Majerus commenting on taking the team to Olean. Who has that link?

The visitors' bus is usually parked in the street (Golden Gate Avenue) right outside the USF Gym.  If I don't see the bus ... you never know. 

[Bay Area Billiken]

AdMan has made it to The City, reports the Golden Gate Bridge did not close.  Now Ms. BAB and yours truly have to get across the Bay Bridge.  She refused my "suggestion" to take the Ferry ...

The BART Transbay Tube has reopened, with the expected delays on the BART system.