Game 28: Men vs. Saint Louis

The men's team opens Atlantic 10 play tonight at the Smith Center against Saint Louis (9-5). GW (4-6) hasn't played since falling 93-57 at Alabama on December 29. In that one, Rob Diggs had 18 points and 10 rebounds, and was joined in double figures in scoring by Wynton Witherspoon (15 points, five rebounds), and Maureece Rice (11 points, three assists). The Colonials were held to 21-61 (34.4%) shooting from the field and were outrebounded 52-33 by the Crimson Tide.

The Billikens, who were picked to finish fifth out of 14 teams in the A-10, return four starters from the squad that went 20-13 and lost to GW in the semifinals of the conference tournament. Saint Louis is led by 6-2 junior guard Kevin Lisch (14.3 points per game this season) and 6-4 junior guard Tommie Liddell (11.6 points), both of whom were preseason All-A-10 Second Team selections. 6-5 senior forward Luke Meyer (8.4 points, 5.2 rebounds), 6-7 junior forward Barry Eberhardt (8.4 points, 4.7 rebounds), and 7-0 senior center Bryce Husak (7.1 points, 4.2 rebounds) round out the starting lineup for the Billikens. Coach Rick Majerus is in his first season with Saint Louis, having previously headed the programs at Marquette, Ball State, and Utah. With the Utes, Majerus reached the Sweet 16 four times (1991, 1996-1998), the Elite Eight twice (1997-1998), and the national championship game once (1998). He is 431-152 in 21 seasons as a head coach.

Saint Louis is coming off of a 66-57 home win over IUPUI on December 29. In that one, four Billikens reached double figures in scoring: Lisch had 21, Liddell had 15, Meyer notched 12, and Eberhardt tallied 10. Four of the Billikens' five losses have come on the road, while the five teams Saint Louis has lost to currently combine for a 53-16 record. Majerus' squad's most impressive win of the season was a 56-51 home triumph over Southern Illinois. The Billikens have won three-straight coming into this one. Saint Louis is tops in the A-10 in scoring defense and 18th in the nation, having held opponents under 60 points in eight of their nine wins. The Billikens are averaging 65.7 points per game in nine wins, and 49.2 points per game in five losses.

This is the fourth-ever meeting between these programs; GW is 2-1. The last meeting came in Atlantic City, NJ in the semifinals of the A-10 Tournament on March 9, 2007. In that one, the Colonials held Saint Louis to 23-55 (32.5%) shooting from the field in a 60-40 win in Brad Soderberg's final game as the head coach of the Billikens. Rice had a game-high 22 points, while Carl Elliott added 11 points and six rebounds. For Saint Louis, both Lisch (11) and Meyer (10) reached double figures in scoring. GW beat the Billikens 69-64 in overtime on January 11, 2006 in the only previous meeting at the Smith Center.

Over the past three years, two teams have reached the A-10 Tournament title game after finishing non-conference play with a losing record: Rhode Island (5-7) last year, and St. Joseph's (3-6) in the 2004-2005 season. GW will look to adds its name to that list. However, the Colonials seem like a broken team. Says here the Lisch-Liddell combination will be too much for GW, and Saint Louis will open A-10 play with a road win.

Paul Marmaro and Max Smith have the call for WRGW with David Earl and Vishal Aswani handling production duties. You can listen here starting at 7.40 p.m. I will join Byron Kerr for the 3WT broadcast. You can listen here starting at 7.50 p.m. Tom McCarthy and Steve Lappas have the call for CSTV. You can watch live starting at eight p.m.

Game notes: Both squads haven't played in 11 days...GW is 31-1 in its last 32 home games...GW has won seven-straight at home...GW is 49-15 in A-10 games over the last four seasons...The Colonials are 27-5 at home against A-10 teams over the last four seasons...Coach Karl Hobbs needs one win for 60 in his A-10 career...Rice needs four points to pass Joe Adamitis for 36th place in program history...Rice needs 16 points to pass Ronnie Nunn for 35th place in program history...Lisch is two points shy of having 1,000 for his career...Liddell needs 32 points to reach that plateau.

Starting lineups and other notes to follow from the Smith Center once we get closer to tip-off. Please check back later.

Update, 7.55 p.m. - Here are the starting lineups:

Saint Louis
G - Dwayne Polk (5-9 senior from St. Louis, MO)
G - Kevin Lisch (6-2 junior from Belleville, IL)
G - Tommie Liddell (6-5 junior from East St. Louis, IL)
F - Luke Meyer (6-5 senior from New Haven, MO)
F - Barry Eberhardt (6-7 junior from Inkster, MI)

GW
G - Maureece Rice (6-1 senior from Philadelphia, PA)
G - Noel Wilmore (6-4 junior from Philadelphia, PA)
F - Damian Hollis (6-8 sophomore from Ft. Lauderdale, FL)
F - Rob Diggs (6-8 junior from Brandywine, MD)
C - Joseph Katuka (6-10 freshman from Zaria, Nigeria)

Interesting to see Witherspoon and Cheyenne Moore on the bench to start.

Update, 11.06 p.m. - Just saw on ESPN that Saint Louis' 20 points are the fewest in the shot clock era. No postgame audio tonight, but more analysis to follow later.

Update, 1.46 p.m. - Hours later, it's still pretty hard to believe. The game was the top story on SportsCenter, as the Colonials accomplished something that hadn't been seen since the shot clock was introduced in college basketball in 1985.

Saint Louis set records for the lowest field goal percentage and fewest field goals in a game in program history, while the game was also the lowest scoring in Smith Center history.

Good start to A-10 play by GW. Looks like the weeks of double sessions paid off. The offense still needs some work, but the defense was as good as I've ever seen, and not just because it held Saint Louis to 20 points. With a tough stretch to open conference play, every win is imperative. It'll be interesting to see if this is the start of something.

We'll be back on Sunday when the women host Xavier. As always, thanks for stopping by.