Ultimately it was a night of hard learned lessons and frustrations for the Billikens in their battle with the Memphis Tigers. The number 11 ranked team in the country continued to validate the hype and prove just how overwhelming they could be, downing the Billikens 90-74 and handing SLU their first loss of the season.
It took eight minutes into the first half for it to happen, to which at that point the Billikens held a one-point lead, but when it happened…it happened fast. The Tigers boast four sure fire first round picks in the roster and a lineup of veterans who won the NIT last season. They used their outrageous length, physicality, speed, and flat-out talent to crush the Billikens at every opportunity. To the point where the SLU big men were air balling layups because of the fear instilled by the Memphis physical pressure.
They made unforced errors. Got flustered and lost their heads. Turning the ball over while inbounding it, getting called for carries and travels, trying to force the ball in to so much pressure there was no oxygen to breathe let alone make a pass or shoot the ball.
“When you’re playing against a top 10 team you have to do the little things.” Travis Ford said after the game, “And none of those things, nothing… None of those things went our way tonight. A lot of that had to do with them. But a lot had to do with us.We just miss layups and free throws that’s on us.”
Emoni Bates, the top prospect in his class and seemingly surefire number one overall pick, was the star of the show. Flashing with a combination of unbelievable handles, preposterously quick movements, and a shot that truly makes him one of the elites.
As the slog of the game went on though, and the Tigers built a lead to 15 points at half, the Billikens never said die. They got the lead down to 9 points, and lost it to as many as 20, but after that initial slip, they didn’t totally give up hope. They battled.
“We competed out there…We played hard” Travis Ford credited his team after the game saying, “I think there was a positive that came out of it. Just competing more than anything, and playing against really good competition, and you know, they would go up and we’d come back, they go up, we’d come back. So, we had some fight in us”
On the court, Francis Okoro stood out as a leader both through his actions and his words. Despite not being able to put anything in the basket early and missing a ton of looks at the rim, Francis continued to battle in the paint. Pulling down 13 rebounds and 9 offensive boards all while continuing to urge his teammates to stay with it…to compete harder. It felt like in in his eyes, the never was quiet out of reach. Listen to his post-game interview here:
Terrence Hargrove Jr also stood out for the Billikens. Leading the team in scoring and was a very effective defender. Being able to use his size to play a versatile role in the flow of both the offense and defense. TJ had 20 points and 11 rebounds, which, on any other night would be a career night.
Largely Hargrove’s success game by playing in the flow of the offense and by being tenacious off the ball. He also was able to follow his scouting report in not just launching a bunch of threes but by being more dynamic. Travis Ford explained how pleased he was by saying “I like what he did because he did what we asked him to do. He didn’t take a bunch of three, he drove it which was something we thought we would get…he competed and did a lot of nice things.”
The Billikens learned a hard lesson in Memphis, but a lesson that can yield dividends in the future. Playing rather poorly in their own right against an incredibly talented roster means there are improvements to be made. This wasn’t a case of giving Memphis absolutely everything you had and walking away feeling like there’s nothing else one could have done.
Make free throws, be stronger in finishing in the paint, perhaps also be luckier as well. While games are dynamic, and not as easy as just finding 16 points to make up the difference and all of a sudden, it’s a win, but there are stats that stand out that make up the point gap.
Going 11-18 in the first half from the free throw line, going 1-4 on dunks, 14-37 on layups (and that doesn’t include travels, carry’s, or bail outs called foul). It would have taken near perfection to beat this team and the early game flubs made a hole far too large to climb out of.
But along with those disappointing stats there was reason for optimism. The Billikens looked far better in the second half in essentially every statistical category. In the first half Saint Louis was outscored 42-27 whereas in the second the scoring was far more even at 48-47.
Again, a dynamic game means situations are different in the two halves, but it’s worth consideration that perhaps after the initial shock and awe of the first half, the Billikens persevered, found their composure, and battled with everything they had. In the statistical categories that showed effort, like offensive rebounding, the Billikens pulled down 23 offensive boards…an impressive feat against anyone let alone a team of this size.
Post-game, both players made available to the media shared in an attitude about this loss. “This is an opportunity to learn and grow.”
Terrence Hargrove indicated that he felt this was an opportunity to see where they stand and what they need to work on. “This is a good challenge for us, a good challenge for our program” Terrance said in the tunnels of FedEx Forum, “Now we know what to work on, what to fix for later on down the road.”
Meanwhile Francis Okoro went out of his way in the availability to talk about the things he saw beyond the box score saying, “This was a good test game for us. I’ve been in situations like this and the way I saw my team play tonight I really trust my team…Our mindset is to outwork everyone so…I trust my coach; I trust my team. We are going to be prepared for what’s next”.
You may never play a team quite like Memphis ever again in college basketball. Their combination of size, athleticism, downright talent makes them very difficult to prepare for, by virtue of the inability to replicate just how imposing they can be, in practice. As good as any scout is, they will never be able to see what Memphis does…even in a controlled simulated environment. So, while there will be ample opportunity to learn about how to improve as a team, it will also be important to contextualize this as playing what sometimes felt like the “Monstars”, and that perhaps, scoring 70 and keeping it to a 16-point loss may look better in the future if you can learn from it.
“We got a long season going ahead” Francis Okoro closed the post-game interview with, giving signs of optimism and a commitment to improvement, “I believe we are going to be back; I’m telling you; I’ve been on other good teams (Okoro went to the sweet 16 and won the PAC12 with Oregon his freshman year) and we’ve got a lot of good pieces. We are going to pick it up, everyone is going to pick it up. I trust the coaches. We got a lot of weapons out there”
The Billikens will have a chance to bounce back Saturday as they take on a deceptively talented Mercer team at Chaifetz Arena in the campus matchup of the Cancun Challenge.