ST. LOUIS – Brian Conklin scored a career-high 25 points, and Saint Louis spoiled Washington head coach and former Billiken mentor Lorenzo Romar’s homecoming with a convincing 77-64 victory over the Huskies Sunday at Chaifetz Arena.
Conklin was 9-of-15 from the floor and 7-of-8 from the free-throw line in eclipsing the previous career best of 24 points he tallied at Xavier last season. Kwamain Mitchell registered a season-high 18 points on a 7-of-13 shooting performance that included a 4-of-9 effort from 3-point range.
Dwayne Evans and Cody Ellis tied for team-high rebounding honors with five boards apiece. Mitchell and Kyle Cassity recorded game highs of four steals and seven assists, respectively, with Cassity’s total tying his career high.
Washington (3-1) got 17 points and a game-high 10 rebounds from Terrence Ross, 14 points from Tony Wroten and 11 points from Aziz N’Diaye. The Huskies shot 42.4 percent for the game but were just 9-of-28 (32.1 percent) in the first half as the Billikens built a 25-point halftime lead.
Saint Louis (3-0) shot a season-best 52.8 percent (28-of-53) from the field – including 60 percent (18-of-30) in the first half — and sank a season-high nine 3-pointers (9-of-21, 42.9 percent). The Billikens were 8-of-12 from beyond the arc in the first 20 minutes.
In addition, SLU earned a 40-26 advantage on the boards and committed only eight turnovers to 16 miscues by Washington.
Both teams scored on their first three possessions of the first half, with 3-pointers by Rob Loe and Mitchell, sandwiched around Conklin’s driving layup, giving the Billikens an 8-6 lead.
Conklin’s three-point play after receiving a backdoor pass from Loe made it 11-6, and Loe followed with a trey from the top of the key for a 14-6 SLU advantage.
Ross connected on a floater in the lane to narrow the Saint Louis lead to 16-11, but that was the last field goal the Huskies would muster for awhile. The Billikens held UW without a bucket for 16 consecutive possessions, a span covering almost 10 minutes, while building the lead to 35-15 with a 19-4 outburst. Five different Billikens scored during the run, led by Mitchell and Mike McCall Jr. with five points apiece.
Consecutive Washington baskets made it 35-19, but Mitchell and Cassity nailed back-to-back 3-pointers and Evans drove the lane for a high bank shot to expand the lead to 43-21. The Bills finished the half with a Cory Remekun dunk off a slick Jordair Jett pass, a Jett pull-up baseline jumper and Mitchell’s 3-pointer from the top of the key for a 50-25 cushion at the break.
A Cassity 3-pointer on the initial possession of the second half got Saint Louis off to a good start, and the Billikens stretched the margin to 29 points, 60-31, at the first media timeout. Washington never seriously threatened and drew no closer than the final margin of 13.
Next up for the Billikens is the 76 Classic in Anaheim, Calif. SLU opens the tournament against Boston College Thursday, Nov. 24, and will play either Villanova or UC Riverside the following day. New Mexico, Santa Clara, Oklahoma and Washington State round out the field for the tournament, which concludes Sunday.
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