ST. LOUIS -- Division I basketball is a demanding sport anytime, but especially when you're dealing with an illness.
Ask sophomore Mike Crawford of the Saint Louis Billikens. Earlier in the season, he was losing weight, feeling weak and getting fatigued from a mysterious bug that he says doctors never quite figured out. He continued to play but his performance, not surprisingly, also suffered. After scoring 10 points in SLU's opener, Crawford totaled only 37 points over the next nine games. As his production diminished, so did his playing time.
But Crawford says he has put back on the 10 pounds he had lost and his health is much improved. He certainly was feeling fine Wednesday night when he scored a career-high and team-best 19 points to help the Billikens beat the Texas-Pan American Broncs 75-69 at Chaifetz Arena.
Crawford made three of four 3-point attempts after making only three of 11 coming into the game. He also hit eight of 10 free throws after shooting a total of 11 in his previous eight games.
No wonder he was smiling in the postgame media session.
"It was nice," Crawford said about his sharpshooting night. "We never really found out what I was dealing with. I lost a lot of weight (he estimated 10 pounds on a frame listed at 6-foot-4, 200) at the beginning of the season. I'm feeling a lot better than what I was early in the year. It's translating out there."
SLU coach Jim Crews noticed the difference about a week ago and, not coincidentally, Crawford's playing time has increased to 25 and 26 minutes in his past two games after a stretch when he wasn't always seeing double-digit minutes.
"He's been doing well in practice," Crews said. "It seemed like a week or so ago he amped up in practice, which in the past hasn't been any indicator who's going to play well in the game. But he played very well in the game tonight."
Lookin' good! Check out our gallery of college basketball cheerleaders.
He wasn't the only Billiken to enjoy a nice night. Junior transfer Ash Yacoubou also scored a career high with 17 points, including 10 before the second media timeout of the first half. For SLU to have a chance when the Atlantic 10 Conference schedule begins next month, it needs the 6-4 guard to play this well on a regular basis for two halves. Yacoubou is the team's best player, but he has struggled with his 3-point shot, which in turn has limited his effectiveness at slashing through defenses, the strength of his game.
Yacoubou hit only one of his three 3-pointers against the Broncs but had one rim out and also made a couple of jumpers just inside the 3-point line. With his outside shot working, Yacoubou's game opened up as he scored his six baskets (in nine attempts) in a variety of ways. And as has become routine, he also led the Billikens in rebounding with eight.
"I know I haven't been shooting well, but I know I can really shoot," said Yacoubou, who raised his field-goal percentage to 41.6 percent. "People may think I can't shoot, but I know I can shoot. That's what matters."
Pan American scored the game's first basket, but a three-point play by Yacoubou and a 3-pointer by McBroom put SLU up two minutes in and the Billikens had built a 12-point lead halfway through the first half. The Broncs rallied to close the deficit to one before SLU went on another spurt. In the second half, the Billikens went up by 10 but again could not shake Pan American, which again came within one with 3:59 to go.
Then Crawford showed some bounce by scoring the next five points, on two free throws and a corner three with 1:13 left, to give the Billikens some breathing room. And leave him feeling better than he has in a while.
You can follow Stan McNeal on Twitter at @StanMcNeal or email him at stanmcneal@gmail.com.
