While Saint Louis has clinched the No. 1 seed in the Atlantic 10 tournament, the Billikens are hoping to regain some of their swagger before heading into the postseason.
They'll have to find a way to end their slump against high-scoring Massachusetts, which has lost once at home all season.
Seventeenth-ranked Saint Louis looks to stop its longest skid in more than three years while winning the A-10 title outright for the second straight season Sunday in Amherst.
Since averaging 70.8 points on 44.7 percent shooting during a school-record 19-game winning streak, the Billikens (25-5, 12-3) have scored just 62.3 per game and shot 41.8 percent while dropping the last three.
They missed 16 of 22 from 3-point range in Wednesday's 72-67 home loss to Dayton, but backed into a share of the league crown and the top seed in the A-10 tourney when Saint Joseph's lost at George Washington.
"We're getting every team's best shot," Saint Louis forward Dwayne Evans said. ''We know we need to pick it up and get after it, but I wouldn't say it's a slump by any means.''
Evans, averaging a team-high 14.0 points, got back on track by putting up team highs of 18 points and nine rebounds. The senior had scored 6.0 per game on 36.4 percent shooting over his previous three.
Jordair Jett, tied for fourth with an average of 17.0 points in conference play, was held to nine while being hindered by a knee injury that kept him off the court for a few minutes in the first half.
A few weeks ago the Billikens were in the Top 10 for the first time since 1964-65, but now they're hoping to avoid their first four-game skid since February 2011. Even with another defeat, Saint Louis could win the regular-season title outright with some help, though that's not an option it would prefer.
"We definitely need to get a win and build some momentum,'' Evans said. ''We still have a chance to win the conference outright and that's been our goal all season.''
After losing its last two to 20-win clubs Virginia Commonwealth and Dayton, the Billikens will get another one of those matchups in the regular-season finale. The Minutemen (23-6, 10-5) have a chance to secure a top-four seed and a first-round bye in the A-10 tourney with a victory.
UMass has won six of eight after Trey Davis scored 20 in a 78-74 victory at Duquesne on Wednesday. Davis has totaled 39 points while sinking 7 of 13 from 3-point range in his last two games.
Senior Chaz Williams chipped in with 17 points and hit three of the team's 10 3s. The guard is averaging a team-high 15.7 points and a conference-best 7.1 assists.
The Minutemen lead the A-10 with 76.9 points per game and rank second with a 46.7 field-goal percentage. But they could have a difficult time continuing that level of production as they go for their 12th win in 13 home games.
The Billikens have given up a league-low 60.9 points per game on 39.5 percent shooting, as well as a nation-low 27.6 3-point percentage.
Saint Louis' Rob Loe had 20 points and Jett added 15 in a 70-62 home win in the only meeting last season. In the most recent matchup in Amherst, UMass' Raphiael Putney had 22 points and Williams scored 19 in a 72-59 victory Jan. 28, 2012.
The Minutemen have won three of four all-time home meetings.
