Saint Louis' first appearance in the Top 25 in almost two decades could be a brief one.
The 23rd-ranked Billikens look to bounce back from their first defeat when they host Portland on Saturday night.
Off to a 6-0 start and coming off impressive victories over Boston College, Villanova and Oklahoma to win the 76 Classic in Anaheim, Calif., last weekend, Saint Louis was rewarded with its first appearance in the AP poll since the 1993-94 season.
A day after entering the poll, however, the Billikens looked like a tired group in their 75-68 road loss to Loyola Marymount on Tuesday.
"We weren't as focused," said coach Rick Majerus, whose team played five of its first seven games on the road. "There was a subliminal complacency by our team."
The Billikens committed a season-high 15 turnovers and were outrebounded for a fifth consecutive game. Cody Ellis scored 18 points off the bench while Brian Conklin and Kwamain Mitchell each added 13 for Saint Louis, which was outscored 49-38 in the second half.
Sophomore guard Rob Loe, who had two turnovers in the first six games, committed three against the Lions.
"He's got to learn a lesson," Majerus said.
Majerus hopes his entire team can learn from its first setback as it begins a favorable six-game home stretch against Portland (3-4), Vermont, Illinois-Springfield, Alabama State, Arkansas State and Texas Southern before consecutive road dates versus New Mexico and Dayton.
Conklin, the team's leading scorer at 16.4 points per game, was saddled with foul trouble against Loyola Marymount. It came one game after he made all but two of his 11 shots and finished with 25 points in an 83-63 win over Oklahoma on Sunday to earn 76 Classic MVP honors.
The 6-foot-8 Ellis, meanwhile, has averaged 16.0 points while going 11 of 17 from 3-point range during the last three games.
Conklin had eight points in a 69-60 loss at Portland last season.
The Pilots, who shot 59.6 percent from the field in that game, face their second Top 25 opponent after losing 87-63 at current-No. 1 Kentucky last Saturday.
"I think at this level, basketball is competed in three different areas: athleticism, toughness and skill," coach Eric Reveno said.
Though the Pilots were unable to match Kentucky's overall athletic talent, they went 11 of 23 from 3-point range. Senior guard Nemanja Mitrovic was 6 of 12 from beyond the arc and finished with a team-high 20 points.
"We can definitely shoot the ball," guard Tim Douglas said.
Averaging a team-leading 11.9 points, Mitrovic had 10 on 4-of-5 shooting versus Saint Louis last season.
Portland made 45.9 percent of its shots, going 7 of 21 from beyond the arc, in a 76-64 win over nearby Division III Lewis & Clark on Tuesday. Thomas van der Mars had 19 points for Portland.
The Pilots have dropped seven consecutive games against Top 25 opponents since beating then-No. 22 Minnesota 61-56 on Nov. 27, 2009.
