GDT Bot Posted February 4 Posted February 4 SLU Men's Basketball Game Notes & Information Game 23 Saint Louis (13-9, 6-3 A-10) at UMass (10-12, 5-4 A-10) Date // Time Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025 // 6 p.m. CT / 7 p.m. ET Location Amherst, Mass. (Mullins Center) Radio KMOX 1120AM | Varsity Network App (Bob Ramsey, Earl Austin Jr.) TV None Stream ESPN+ (Jay Burnham, Frank Sullivan) Live Stats StatBroadcast Series History Saint Louis leads 17-9 Game Notes Saint Louis WHAT'S ON TAP? Saint Louis continues Atlantic 10 Conference play when it travels to Amherst, Mass., to take on the UMass Minutemen on Tuesday. Game time at the Mullins Center is set for 6 p.m. (CT). Next up, the Billikens head to Philadelphia to face Saint Joseph's on Friday. That game tips at 8 p.m. (CT) on ESPNU. FOLLOWING THE ACTION Tuesday's game will be streamed exclusively on ESPN+. Jay Burnham and Frank Sullivan 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. BILLIKEN NOTABLES Saint Louis enters the week in third place in the A-10 standings with a 6-3 record. UMass is in a two-way tie for fourth place, one game back of the Bills at 5-4. The Billikens are second in the A-10 in defensive efficiency in conference only games. They yield 64.9 ppg in conference play, which is third in the league. Gibson Jimerson leads the Billikens and is fourth in the A-10 in scoring with 17.8 ppg. He is second in the league and 30th nationally with 3.05 3-pointers made per game. Jimerson is second in the NCAA minutes played per game this season (37:45). He has played all 40 minutes in nine games. Robbie Avila scores 17.2 ppg. His 4.2 assists (sixth in the A-10) and 1.6 3-pointers made per game lead all centers in NCAA Division I. Isaiah Swope turns in 16.4 points and is third in the A-10 with 4.9 assists per game. With the scoring trio of Avila, Jimerson and Swope, the Billikens are the only program in the country with three active players averaging 16.3 ppg or more. Kalu Anya leads the A-10 in rebounds per game (9.2). Kobe Johnson is averaging 12.3 points and 5.3 rebounds over the last four games. Dylan Warlick averaged 8.5 ppg last week vs. Dayton and VCU. Saint Louis leads the A-10 in FG% (.476) and effective FG% (.560). Head coach Josh Schertz is in his first season at SLU. His .779 winning percentage ranks No. 7 among active coaches across all three NCAA divisions. ABOUT THE MINUTEMEN The University of Massachusetts Minutemen (Amherst, Mass.) are 10-12 overall and tied for fourth in the A-10 with a 5-4 league mark. UMass is playing its best basketball of the season, having won four if its last five games. The Minutemen have won three in a row on their home floor during conference play. Rahsool Diggins is the team's leading scorer at 17.5 ppg, which includes a league-leading 25.4 ppg during conference play. Diggins is an explosive scorer, having dropped 46 points in a triple OT win over Fordham, 33 points earlier this year at Saint Joseph's and 32 points in the Minutemen's win at Duquesne in their last outing. Diggins has drilled an A-10-leading 35 3-pointers (nearly 4.0 per game) in conference play alone. Jaylen Curry contributes 12.6 ppg and a team-best 4.1 assists per game. Daniel Rivera scores 12.0 ppg and pulls down a team-leading 7.5 rpg. He is one of the top rebounders in the league on the offensive glass with 3.0 orpg. Rivera was on the Billikens' roster in 2022-23 but did not appear in any games due to an injury. He played last season at Bryant before transferring to UMass. The Minutemen lead the A-10 and rank fifth in the NCAA in blocks per game (5.6). Shahid Muhammad averages nearly two blocks per game to rank fourth in the A-10. Rivera is ninth in the conference in blocked shots. Head coach Frank Martin is in his third season at UMass. He also served as head coach at Kansas State from 2007-12 and South Carolina from 2012-22. He guided the Gamecocks to the 2017 NCAA Final Four. SERIES HISTORY This is the 27th meeting all-time between the Billikens and Minutemen. Saint Louis leads the series 17-9. UMass, however, has won back-to-back games against SLU for the first time in the series. The Minutemen won last year at Chaifetz Arena, 84-73, and two years ago at the Mullins Center, 90-81. SLU is 4-6 in games played at the Mullins Center. The Bills have dropped three in a row here. The last win in Amherst came during the 2017-18 season. This will be the final A-10 game between the two teams as UMass is set to join the MAC next season. Quote
Taj79 Posted February 4 Posted February 4 I am surprised we are favored (-1.5) tonight. I think this is a 'must win' game given the upcoming schedule. A win tonight will keep us tracking for that top four finish. A loss will not only be a setback there, but it will drop us down closer to the morass that is the middle of the league. Quote
Cowboy II Posted February 4 Posted February 4 -it looks to me like movement and cutting on our offensive end has again stagnated, I would like to see that restored -I think Killian is due to hit 2 or 3 three pointers in a game and this would be a good game for that to happen -be the aggressor on both ends -with these we win Quote
TheChosenOne Posted February 4 Posted February 4 54 minutes ago, Cowboy II said: -it looks to me like movement and cutting on our offensive end has again stagnated, I would like to see that restored This has become one of my bigger frustrations. Seeing a lot more of guys having to make plays going one on one vs. the offense creating opportunities, just not seeing the elite offense I was expecting to see. Quote
HoosierPal Posted February 4 Posted February 4 A split on this two game road trip is vital. Being 2-7 away from home (wins over Fordham and Richmond), a split will be a battle. Winning both is of course the goal, but our track record says that won't happen. Quote
WVBilliken Posted February 4 Posted February 4 3 hours ago, TheChosenOne said: This has become one of my bigger frustrations. Seeing a lot more of guys having to make plays going one on one vs. the offense creating opportunities, just not seeing the elite offense I was expecting to see. The loss of Thames, Casey, Dotzler and to a lesser extent, Hughes, has hurt the offense and defense. It's usually not good to toss in unproven frosh and expect great results right away. I thought Thames could be a star. And I had great expectations for Casey and Dotzler. Casey, a 6'9" defensive and offensive presence, might be the greatest loss, but just guessing here. Dotzler looked like a keeper. He had some good moments early in the season. Hughes, always thought he was 8 or 9 in the rotation. But wish he were here now. Thinking he would be our first guy off the bench. So we are left with a team gutted but still pretty good. But little depth ..... CenHudDude, MB73 and White Pelican 3 Quote
White Pelican Posted February 4 Posted February 4 13 minutes ago, WVBilliken said: The loss of Thames, Casey, Dotzler and to a lesser extent, Hughes, has hurt the offense and defense. It's usually not good to toss in unproven frosh and expect great results right away. I thought Thames could be a star. And I had great expectations for Casey and Dotzler. Casey, a 6'9" defensive and offensive presence, might be the greatest loss, but just guessing here. Dotzler looked like a keeper. He had some good moments early in the season. Hughes, always thought he was 8 or 9 in the rotation. But wish he were here now. Thinking he would be our first guy off the bench. So we are left with a team gutted but still pretty good. But little depth ..... Now we have Yeah, I was expecting to see the Indiana State offense that I saw in the NIT last year. But there are too many missing pieces now and it's more haphazard. We have good players, we just don't have enough of them. Quote
NextYearBill Posted February 4 Posted February 4 We’re gonna get the 4 seed and win the A10 tourney. See y’all in Seattle cuz that’s where our 13 seed ass is going. Let’s go!!!!!!!!!!! Quote
billikenbill Posted February 4 Posted February 4 Ted Valentine in the house. Prepare for crappier than usual officiating. Quote
SLU_Nick Posted February 5 Posted February 5 Teddy Valentine announces his presence on the worst call I’ve ever seen Quote
SLU_Nick Posted February 5 Posted February 5 Losing some momentum. We need to settle down a bit Quote
SluSignGuy Posted February 5 Posted February 5 Would like some things to go well for Mccottry.. But it just hasn't clicked in conference season Quote
jonny karate Posted February 5 Posted February 5 Should blowing this out but of course slu wants to challenge themselves Quote
slu72 Posted February 5 Posted February 5 Sometimes I think we’re looking for the perfect pass and it becomes a TO. Quote
slu72 Posted February 5 Posted February 5 TOs killed us against UD. They got to clean it up. Push it but take care of the rock. Quote
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