ST. LOUIS - Be honest, after the Billikens lost at home to lowly Rhode Island, who had the boys in blue and white rattling off ten-straight victories? Not this guy. But here we sit at the end of February with Saint Louis looking like a team nobody in the country wants to encounter come March. SLU senior forward Cody Ellis likes to use the phrase ‘Rise of the Billikens’ on the social media front, and I don’t think there is a more perfect description for this team.
DWAYNE BEING DWAYNE – Another big game for Dwayne Evans, who set or matched multiple career highs. Evans led the Billikens with 21 points and 12 rebounds, which was his third double-double in the last six games. It was the fourth 20-point performance of the year. The junior forward also hit a career-high nine free throws (9-11) while matching career highs in steals (3) and blocks (3). Below is the complete postgame interview with Evans and senior forward Cory Remekun.
TERRIFIC TEN - Saint Louis U is on fire, plain and simple. And the Billikens are not just winning, they are winning convincingly. Eight of the ten wins have come by double digits. With each win comes more media attention. And with more media attention comes repeated question after repeated question. The big one of late, 'what does this win mean to you?' Everyone poses the question as if there is some new magical answer from Jim Crews. Please, just stop. Each game represents 1/16th of the conference schedule. One game at a time. We only live in the present. Call it cliche, but at this point, its just fact. Saint Louis is focused on the now and not the possibilities of tomorrow. Below is the postgame reaction from Crews.
WHAT IS GOING ON? - Nothing gets me more agitated than when people show up at sporting events for no other reason than to gain awareness for a cause unrelated to the actual game. Last night, a few people in the student section (Who didn't appear to be students) held up a sign in opposition to SLU's president, Father Biondi. While I am all for the first amendment, and the Constitution in general, I absolutely loath people who do this. It's a basketball game. Take your talents to the sidewalk and let people who pay excessive amounts of money relax and watch their favorite team. That being said, if they were hoping to incite some sort of emotion from the crowd, they came to the wrong place. The fans at Chaifetz Arena must have all had turkey for dinner, because a tryptophan hangover is the only logical excuse I can fathom on why the atmosphere was so dismal. How can a group of 500-1,000 fans who traveled to Butler last Friday cause more commotion than 10,000? Simply mind boggling. The Billikens are ranked 18th in the nation. 10-game winning streak. Horrible officiating that justifies loud responses. What more do you possibly want? John Stamos? Still working on that. Below is a picture of the sign that was held up during the game, tweeted by Brian Kelly (@Brpkelly).
FROM BAD TO AWESOME - Mascots are hilarious. Every time I catch a glimpse of the Phillie Phanatic, for example, I automatically smile. Mascots bring joy the sports community, and pride to those with team allegiances. Then there is the Saint Joseph's Hawk. All game, he flaps. No breaks. Always moving. I find it absurdly obnoxious. But hey, I'm not an alum of St. Joe's, and I'm sure they love those bird flaps. After all, the Hawk represents the University's motto, "The Hawk Will Never Die". So it brought me great joy to see this clip of the Billiken having a little fun with the Hawk. Perhaps I am just jealous that the guy inside the bird costume gets a full scholarship (And phenomenal lats) but this video posted on YouTube by Kevin Fallon made me laugh.
ON TAP - Next up for the Billikens is a date with the George Washington Colonials on Saturday at 3:00 pm CT in D.C. Saint Louis has never won at GW, going 0-4 in trips to our nation's capital. And we all remember the game back in 2008, where SLU scored a ridiculous 20 points total, which is still an NCAA record for fewest points scored in the shot clock era. The Billikens missed 23 consecutive shots at one point and finished 7-for-48 (14.6 percent) from the field, including 1-for-19 from 3-point range.
