Saint Louis is very much in the hunt for at least a share of its first conference championship of any kind in 41 years, but coach Rick Majerus is downplaying the importance for his program of getting even a piece of the Atlantic 10 Conference title.
"I look at the world a different way, I guess," said Majerus, whose Billikens are 10-3 in the conference and waiting for league-leading 10-2 Temple to stumble. "I just think it's always important to do the best you can and compete."
It will be more important to the program, he said, for his players to continue to "do really well in school," and development of the program will take care of itself.
Still, a title would be nice.
The last time the Billikens got one was when they won the Missouri Valley in 1971. They competed in three other conferences since then until joining the A-10 for the 2005-06 season.
At this point, all they can do is win out in their three remaining games against Rhode Island, Xavier, and Duquesne and hope Temple stumbles at least once among its final four games.
If the two teams are tied at the close of play on March 3, the Owls would get the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament by virtue of their win over the Billikens back in January.
But the Billikens, who have improved to 22-5 overall, would still be recognized as co-champions.
Majerus would take it.
"Obviously. Who doesn't want to win? " he said.
Senior F Brian Conklin still leads Saint Louis in scoring and is second in rebounding with averages of 13.9 and 5.1 through 27 games, but he hasn't really helped himself lately.
Conklin had only three points and three rebounds against Fordham after getting five and four, respectively, in the previous game against Richmond.
That ended a run of nine consecutive games in double figures in points for Conklin.
Saint Louis had just six turnovers, a season low, against Fordham, For the season, the Billikens are averaging just 11.3 turnovers a game, which leads the league.
In conference play, they are averaging 12.0 in 13 games but forcing 15.9, which gives them a league-best plus-3.9 cushion in turnover margin.
Sophomore F Rob Loe didn't score a point but had a career high in rebounds with 11 against Fordham. It was the first time he had ever been in double digits in rebounds. He had had just 12 total in his previous five games.
31.0 Saint Louis is holding its opponents to just 31.0 percent shooting from the field for the season after allowing Fordham to shoot 36.0 percent.
"He doesn't have lift, but he does have pretty good hands, and he does have good size. He's got to become more aggressive." -- Coach Rick Majerus, on 6-11 F Rob Loe and his rebounding against Fordham.
at Rhode Island, Feb. 25
G Billy Baron has been the Rams' leader in the backcourt since becoming eligible at the semester break. He is a scorer as well as a distributor of the ball. F Jonathan Holton has an a solid freshman year and is among the league leaders in rebounding.
The Billikens finish the regular season with two of their last three games on the road. After going to Rhode Island, they are home on Feb. 28 against Xavier, then finish at Duquesne on March 3. Barring a complete -- and unlikely -- collapse, they will have a bye in the A-10 tourney and play a quarterfinal game on March 9 in Atlantic City.
Junior F Dwayne Evans has hit a bit of a speed bump after recording a double-double (16 points, 13 rebounds) in the win over La Salle on Feb. 11. He had just six points and six rebounds against Fordham after being held to two points and one rebound against Richmond in the previous game.
Junior G Kwamain Mitchell tied a season high in rebounds with seven against Fordham.
