By PAUL GOTHAM
The Saint Louis Billikens (9-16/4-8 Atlantic 10) have won four of their last six games, and it’s no coincidence that Davell Roby is playing his best basketball of the season during the recent stretch.
Leading the Billikens with 11.7 points and 3.5 assists per game on the season, Roby is scoring 12.5 in conference play. Those numbers have jumped to 16 points and 4.5 assists over the last half-dozen contests.
“Davell has been pretty consistent for us here of lately,” first-year Saint Louis coach Travis Ford said during the weekly Atlantic 10 tele-conference. “We need him to score on the offensive end, and he’s scoring in different ways which I like. He’s getting to foul line. He’s getting to the rim. He’s making a few threes.”
Roby poured in a career-high 20 on 6-of-8 shooting in the Billikens 87-81 victory over Duquesne. The junior guard also connected on all four of his attempts from long range. With his six makes and six helpers, he accounted for more than a third of SLU’s 24 field goals on the night. But Ford notes Roby’s contributions aren’t limited to the offensive end.
“We ask him to do a lot,” Ford added. “He’s probably our best perimeter defender, so we ask him to do a lot on the defensive end.”
On a team ranked 312th in the nation by KenPom with an adjusted offensive efficiency (estimated number of points per 100 possessions) of 95.5, Roby’s assist rate 26.2 ranks in the top 200.
Saint Louis hosts Dayton Tuesday night in a rematch from January 22nd when the Flyers, tied for first in the A-10 with VCU, limited SLU to 15 of 50 shooting in a 67-46 UD victory. Dayton head coach Archie Miller won’t allow the previous result affect his evaluation of Roby and the Bills.
“He’s always been very aggressive,” Miller noted. “He’s always been a good-sized guard who’s physical. The one thing if you look at their team and him in particular, they’re shooting the ball at a great clip. They shot 9 of 11 from three in the first half on Saturday. He’s shooting over 40 percent in conference play.
“They’re shooting the ball really well. They’re executing their stuff really well. They’re continuing to play really hard. Roby is one of the more talented, physical guys that they have. They use him in a lot of different ways.”
Dayton and Saint Louis tip off at 8 pm Tuesday night. CBS Sports Network will televise the game.
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