Game 46: Men at Saint Louis

The men's team travels to St. Louis, MO to face Saint Louis (13-10, 4-5) tonight at the Scottrade Center. GW (6-13, 2-7) is coming off of a thrilling last-second 57-54 upset of Dayton at the Smith Center on Saturday night. In that one, Wynton Witherspoon's game-winning three-pointer with 1.9 seconds remaining snapped the Colonials' seven-game losing streak. Rob Diggs led GW with 29 points and 11 rebounds, while Witherspoon added 19 points and seven rebounds.

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 points per game this season) and 6-4 junior guard Tommie Liddell (12 points, 4.2 rebounds), both of whom were preseason All-A-10 Second Team selections, and 6-5 senior forward Luke Meyer (9.1 points, 5.2 rebounds). 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 435-157 in 21 seasons as a head coach.

Saint Louis is coming off of a 64-55 win at Richmond on Sunday afternoon. In that one, four Billikens reached double figures in scoring: Lisch (14 points, eight rebounds), 6-4 senior guard Danny Brown (14 points, five rebounds), Liddell (12 points, five rebounds), and 6-7 junior forward Barry Eberhardt (10 points, seven rebounds). Saint Louis outrebounded the Spiders 41-27 and shot 19-22 (86.4%) from the free throw line. The Billikens have alternated wins and losses in their last eight games (4-4), and have lost five of their last nine. Saint Louis is 9-4 at home this season.

This is the fifth-ever meeting between these programs; GW is 3-1. The last meeting came on January 10 at the Smith Center, which the Colonials won 49-20. Saint Louis' 20 points were and still are the fewest a team has scored in a Division I game since the shot clock was introduced in 1985. In that one, two GW players reached double figures in scoring: Damian Hollis (13 points, 10 rebounds) and Maureece Rice (12 points, five rebounds). The Colonials held Saint Louis to just seven points in the first half, while blocking a season-high 11 shots, including five by Diggs. The Billikens missed 23-straight shots at one point, and finished the game at 7-48 (14.6%) shooting from the field and 1-19 (5.3%) from three-point land. Saint Louis won the only previous meeting at the Scottrade Center 63-53 on February 3, 2007.

Saint Louis will undoubtedly want to extract revenge for being showcased on ESPN and numerous publications following the game on January 10. The fact that GW has yet to win a game away from the Smith Center doesn't help the Colonials' cause. The pick here is for the Billikens to come away with a victory.

Adam Rosenbloom and Paul Marmaro have the call for WRGW with Alex Tainsh handling production duties. You can listen here following the conclusion of the women's game, which tips off an hour earlier than this one; the men's game will be picked up live once the women's contest is over. I will join Byron Kerr for the WFED broadcast. You can listen here starting at 7.50 p.m.

Game notes: GW has lost all 10 of its games away from the Smith Center this season...The Colonials are 11-18 in their last 29 games away from the Smith Center...GW is just 2-4 when scoring at least 70 points...The Colonials were 16-1 when scoring at least 70 points last season...Coach Karl Hobbs has used 11 different starting lineups through 19 games...GW used just five different starting lineups in 32 games last season...This season, the backcourt accounts for only 35% of GW's points...Last season, the backcourt accounted for 54% of the Colonials' scoring...Diggs is averaging 20.3 points per game over the last four contests...In GW's last two games, Rice has combined to score no points on 0-10 shooting from the field...In the last two meetings in this series, GW has limited Saint Louis to an average of 30 points per game...The Billikens are averaging only 48.6 points per game in the four contests between these programs...Rice needs two points to pass Vaughn Jones for 28th place in program history...Rice needs two threes to tie Dirkk Surles for sixth place in program history...Rice needs one three to tie Nimbo Hammons for seventh place in program history...Rice is averaging 14 points per game in four career meetings with the Billikens...GW is 1-2 this month and 0-10 when allowing 70 points or more...The Colonials have lost more games on Wednesday than any other day this season (2-5)...GW is 1-4 coming off of a win...The Colonials' only back-to-back wins of the season came in the team's first two games...Those wins were at home against Mount St. Mary's (November 10) and Boston University (November 14)...Four of Saint Louis' likely starters are left-handed...Lisch is the reigning A-10 Player of the Week...This is the Billikens' final season at the Scottrade Center...The program will move to a new on-campus arena next year.

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

Update, 11.49 p.m. - Here were the starting lineups:

GW
G - Johnny Lee (5-8 sophomore from Nashville, TN)
G - Maureece Rice (6-1 senior 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)

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)
C - Bryce Husak (7-0 senior from Mt. Vernon, IA)

It has now been 351 days since the Colonials last won a road game, as Saint Louis held a double-digit lead for more than 26 minutes in this one. Despite scoring only six points in the paint, the Billikens hit 14 threes, the most by a GW opponent this season. The Colonials shot just 14-52 (26.9%) from the field, and Diggs was the only visitor in double figures in scoring with 14 points.

We'll be back on Saturday when the men and women visit St. Bonaventure. As always, thanks for stopping by.