Valpo at Saint Louis 3:30 p.m. Chaifetz Arena St.Louis 12/2/12 game thread

[bbtds]

A week from today the Crusaders take on the Billikens. Don't be surprised or get too angry if Valpo plays sloppy and has multiple turnovers, misses a bunch of under the basket bunny shots, the Billikens have better big men than Nebraska (although Nebraska has the better coach since the departure of Rick Majerus), and the Crusaders face a much tougher defense to shoot the three against (Majerus was a master of in game adjustments and defense--Crews, the interim SLU coach, is improving but not up to where Majerus had the Billikens) and Valpo loses this game. The handwriting has been written all over the walls on how to beat Valpo. It's up to Valpo's coaching staff to find a way to surprise SLU with some unseen plays to overcome these problems.

[oklahomamick]

the Billikens have better big men than Nebraska (although Nebraska has the better coach since the departure of Rick Majerus),

speaking of nebraska......Kent State rolled the corn huskers by 14.....

[truth219]

I would love for valpo to win, and they certainly can. Although, they will have to play pretty polished. If we can hit our 3 pointers and our easy loooks we can get the win.

[bbtds]

http://www.slubillikens.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=27200&ATCLID=205764560

ST. LOUIS - Dwayne Evans scored 14 points and collected six rebounds to lead Saint Louis to a 61-51 victory over Southern Illinois Saturday night at Chaifetz Arena.

Rob Loe scored 12 points, including a 3-of-3 effort from 3-point range, and added four rebounds. Mike McCall Jr. tallied nine points, tied his career best with a game-high eight assists and made a game-high three steals.

Cody Ellis contributed nine points on 3-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc, part of the Billikens' 8-of-18 (.444) performance from 3-point distance. SLU shot 51.2 percent overall, the third time in five games this season the Bills (3-2) have topped the 50-percent mark. Southern Illinois was held to 36.5 percent overall and was just 2-of-9 from 3-point range.

Cory Remekun chipped in eight points and six rebounds for the Billikens.

Jeff Early scored a game-high 15 points and added six rebounds for Southern Illinois (3-1), who used 18 offensive rebounds to gain a 36-28 overall edge on the boards. Dantiel Daniels had 12 points, Desmar Jackson posted 10 points and a game-high eight rebounds, and Kendal Brown-Surles registered five assists.

The Billikens led by 11 at intermission, but an 11-5 run including six points from Daniels pulled the Salukis to within five, 33-28.

Loe connected from beyond the arc on consecutive possessions to stretch the SLU lead to 39-30. After Daniels hit a short jumper, Loe made a free throw and Jordair Jett drilled a jumper from the left wing for a 42-32 Billiken advantage.

Consecutive buckets by Jackson sandwiched Evans' spinning layup, and the Billikens led 44-36. But that was as close as the Salukis would get as Saint Louis constructed a 13-4 run that put the game out of reach.

Evans ignited the outburst with an offensive rebound and layup. McCall Jr. netted both ends of a 1-and-1, and Evans' fast-break layup made it 50-36.

Evans sank the back end of a two-shot foul, then converted both ends of a 1-and-1 for a 53-38 SLU advantage. Jett's short jumper and two Loe free throws concluded the run, and it was 57-40 Saint Louis with 3:53 remaining.

Saint Louis scored on seven of its first nine first-half touches to take a 15-4 lead. Five different Billikens scored during the run, which was highlighted by a pair of Ellis 3-pointers on consecutive possessions.

But the tables turned for SLU as the Bills suffered seven straight empty possessions. However, Southern Illinois scored just twice during that stretch to make it a 15-8 game.

McCall Jr.'s steal and acrobatic fast-break layup halted the Saint Louis scoreless streak, and Remekun's layup with a sharp assist from McCall Jr. put the Billikens on top 19-8.

SIU scored on its next three possessions, including a jumper and a 3-pointer from Early, to cut the SLU lead to 19-15. But the Billikens finished with a 9-2 flurry consisting of treys by McCall, Ellis and Jake Barnett for a 28-17 halftime cushion.

Saint Louis travels to Seattle to take on Washington Wednesday, Nov. 28. Tip time is 11 p.m. (CT).
SLU Men's Basketball

[valpotx]

I think that we will be ready to play, and it will be a competitive game.  A 3 here or there may be the difference.  I have faith that Bryce will have the guys better prepared to play in a more open gym, versus how we were in Nebraska:

Valpo 66
SLU 63

[covufan]

Will be a tough game.  For us to be in the game in the final moments we'll need to play well the full 40 minutes.  We can't have scoring droughts as in the Nebraska game.  We'll need a few contested shots to drop in, especially a few 3's.  I'm not sure how many players are in the SLU rotation, but we need to push the ball after long rebounds and when we have numbers.  If we have more than 14 TO's, we could be in trouble.  Everyone will need to step up - a key rebound here, taking a charge there, help defending, etc.

Valpo 69
SLU   67

[bbtds]

I love how posters give themselves pep talks before making their somewhat bold predictions. 

Here is the ESPN 3 replay of the Kansas/Saint Louis game.
http://espn.go.com/watchespn/player/_/source/espn3/id/639942/size/condensed/

Kansas was pretty tough that game. You sure could see the despair Kwamain Mitchell had on his face as he was showed during the timeout between the 14:00 and 13:00 minute marks of the first half. Imagine being the #1 scorer missing the Kansas game in your senior year and watching your team struggling to put points on the board.


This one is a toss-up in my book. Valpo will make plenty mistakes, turnovers, bad fouls, missed shots under the basket, etc. Valpo will also get big runs from Ryan, Kevin, Erik and a lot of help under the basket from Capo. The key will be if Valpo can shut down the SLU offense enough to win. I say no. I can almost guarantee you Jordair Jett (player with dreadlocks) will have a better game.

Valpo          64
Saint Louis   69

[atkins]

If SLU plays up to its potential, we lose.  However, like Valpo, SLU has been inconsistent and has not performed at the expected level.  SLU is certainly beatable on its home floor, but note that Southern Illinois played a relatively good game against SLU and still lost handily.  Recently, SLU also hung in there with Kansas, which was all-world that night.   I have no doubt that Valpo would lose any game against Kansas by at least 20.  I would also hate to see our performance against any of the other top-ten teams.   

I know vu72 thinks we have no chance of being blown out this year (which may or may not be true), but SLU is the sort of team that can blow us out of the gym on any given day.  Let's hope we catch them on a merely mediocre day.  So far, I've not seen the consistency from Valpo that gives me the confidence to predict a victory against SLU. 

[78crusader]

SLU 73
VU 58

Road woes against good opponents continues. Hope I'm wrong.

Paul

[vu72]

If SLU plays up to its potential, we lose.  However, like Valpo, SLU has been inconsistent and has not performed at the expected level.  SLU is certainly beatable on its home floor, but note that Southern Illinois played a relatively good game against SLU and still lost handily.  Recently, SLU also hung in there with Kansas, which was all-world that night.   I have no doubt that Valpo would lose any game against Kansas by at least 20.  I would also hate to see our performance against any of the other top-ten teams.   

I know vu72 thinks we have no chance of being blown out this year (which may or may not be true), but SLU is the sort of team that can blow us out of the gym on any given day.  Let's hope we catch them on a merely mediocre day.  So far, I've not seen the consistency from Valpo that gives me the confidence to predict a victory against SLU. 

And you've seen consistency from whom??  It's early in the season.  we have the same talent level as St. Louis or anyone else on our schedule.  If, we lose it will be a close game, and we still won't be at full strength.  I know it is painful for some on this board to acknowledge how good we may be, but wait a short while and you will see a team capable of hanging with anyone, including Kansas.

[LaPorteAveApostle]

And you've seen consistency from whom??

Amen...how many teams go 40-0 these days (or any day)?

[atkins]

I know this board consists of rabid Valpo fans, but many of the posters here would agree that we have not played nearly well enough to hang with a top-20 team, especially away from home, where we seem to turn the ball over more than a dozen times a game and allow easy inside shots.  Numerous turnovers against a good team typically spells defeat, and so do a bunch of inside shots.   An average team such as Bethane Cookman got plenty of very easy baskets against us inside.  Even Valpo's own announcers note that Valpo struggles when Ryan is not in the game.  His brief absences from the game should not cause our offense to die in a corner. 

Hopefully we will indeed improve to the level at which we can hang with the better major and mid-major teams, but we are not close at this point.  Remember that Kansas (i.e., archetypal big team to which Valpo is traditionally fed for revenue) and its ilk will also improve as the year progresses.  If we defeat Missouri State, New Mexico, and SLU, I'll be a true believer, but until then....

[valpotx]

Missouri State has lost to Jacksonville, South Carolina, and SMU so far...not good.  Their wins are against Philander Smith and Malone???  Missouri State does not worry me at all this year, though SLU and New Mexico do.

[atkins]

Those are some big wins by MSU!  I wonder whether we should schedule those teams?  I don' t think we've played either of them in recent memory.  They'd fit right in along with our traditional opponents IUPUI and IUPUFW.   Although I've not seen Missouri State play this year, my friend from Springfield, MO, tells me that they are down this year and that Valpo should have an easy ride.

[FWalum]

right in along with our traditional opponents IUPUI and IUPUFW.

At least get the acronyms right, its IPFW not IUPUFW.   

[bbtds]

Those are some big wins by MSU!  I wonder whether we should schedule those teams?  I don' t think we've played either of them in recent memory.  They'd fit right in along with our traditional opponents IUPUI and IUPUFW.   Although I've not seen Missouri State play this year, my friend from Springfield, MO, tells me that they are down this year and that Valpo should have an easy ride.

To be honest, IUPUI and IPFW are better than every team we have played except for maybe Nebraska and Kent and probably close to better than 50% of the other teams on the rest of the schedule.

[FWalum]

IPFW is getting a little more balanced scoring recently than in the past couple of years.  They had relied heavily on Frank Gaines getting 20+ points per game. Some of the other guys are starting to step up including Mario Hines and Isaiah McCray.

[bbtds]

For those staying up late who want to see the SLU/Wash game at midnight EST. I stole this off the SLU board:


wouldn't this be a simple question of "do you carry the Pac-12 network?" If they have dish network it's channel 413. If they have directv they don't have it and can't magically "order it".

Once I noticed we were going to have issues streaming this game I started talking to the pirates cruising around the internet and informed them of the on going negotiations with pac 12 network and directv and asked if they would help us out.

They have been very gracious about it as you can read on: http://forum.wiziwig...-amp-Discussion

Most likely a link will come tonight, or tomorrow and be by either viraljet or ft420.


Because the Pac 12 Network is so new they are still negotiating with many TV services for air time.

[bbtds]

Some more bad news from the SLU board for watching this game:

Cal St. Northridge  @ UCLA shown on Pac-12 Network, Pac-12 Arizona, Pac-12 Bay Area, Pac-12 Los Angeles while we are

Saint Louis  @ Washington  shown on Pac-12 Mountain, Pac-12 Oregon, Pac-12 Washington
Therefore, it would appear we aren't even on dish networks 413 channel but rather Pac-12 sub regional channels. Does anyone have any idea how theses work on dish network?

[bbtds]

I found it.

http://www.vipboxsports.eu/sports/basketball.html

Scroll down to GMT 2012-11-29 5:00 a.m. you'll see Saint Louis at Washington

[crusadermoe]

There's no way we should be favored against SLU.    No reason to fear them either.     Like so many on the board, I love the 3 games vs. beatable Top 50 teams.     
SLU  61    Valpo 52
Valpo really hasn't looked good yet even though they are more talented now.     All the wins except Kent St. so far were gimmes and we've looked bad too many times in the easy games.   On the other hand, if we shoot well we can beat any of the teams on our schedule. 

[oklahomamick]

right in along with our traditional opponents IUPUI and IUPUFW.

At least get the acronyms right, its IPFW not IUPUFW.   

No, no.....its now just, Fort Wayne. 

[bbtds]

Better feed for SLU/Wash game:

http://jets-fuel.blogspot.com/p/jet-4.html

[bbtds]

Washington knocks off SLU 66-61.  UW got out to an 11 point lead on the shooting of C.J. Wilcox, who finished with 27 points, in the late part of the 2nd half before the Billikens closed it to 4. Washington made the plays to win it and controlled the flow of the game enough for the Huskies to stay ahead. Not what I would call a well played game especially with all those big bodies banging into each other. There was some excellent shooting from both teams.

Valpo is going to have to limit their mistakes to about a third of what they have in one of their sloppy games. This is not a game where Vashil will be able to control the middle. Kevin will need to bang hard but control his fouls. Trying to draw fouls will not work well. Valpo will need to make almost every shot they work for. No missing easy under the basket shots or missing dunks. This is a game where we will see if Capo is up to the challenge. He's going to need to bang for every point he can get. I don't think we'll see Erik making many layups because the Billikens know how to swat them away.

Jett came off the bench to score 11. Leading scorer was Cody Ellis with 14 off the bench. Rob Loe, the Aussie from Rowdy's school, had 13 and Mike McCall also had 11. Dwayne Evans, usually their most consistent scorer had only 8 points because he didn't play his normal explosive game and because he was tied up by the Huskies big men.

[crusadermoe]

Did Rob Loe bring a Brat Pack of his own to the US?