GAMENOTES SAINT LOUIS (6-0) MINNESOTA (6-1) Sunday, Dec. 20 • 7:30 p.m. • Minneapolis • Williams Arena (14,625) TV: FS1 (Bob Brainerd, Trent Tucker) SAINT LOUIS BILLIKENS MINNESOTA GOLDEN GOPHERS Radio: KMOX 1120 (Bob Ramsey, Earl Austin Jr.) Record: 6-0 (0-0 A-10) Record: 6-1 (0-0 BIG TEN) Live Stats: GopherSports.com Home/Road/Neutral Record: 6-0/0-0/0-0 Home/Road/Neutral Record: 6-0/0-1/0-0 Last Game: W, 80-69 (vs. NC State) Last Game: L, 65-92 (at Illinois) Saint Louis Billikens Schedule/Results Current Streak: W6 Current Streak: L1 NCAA NET Ranking: NA NCAA NET Ranking: NA NOVEMBER KenPom Rating: 28 (thru Dec. 18) KenPom Rating: 55 (thru Dec. 18) Wed., 25 SIUE^ (ESPN+) W, 89-52 Head Coach: Travis Ford Head Coach: Richard Pitino Sat., 28 LSU^ (ESPN+) W, 85-81 Ford’s Record at SLU: 81-58 (5th yr.) Pitino’s Record at MINN: 133-109 (8th yr.) 417-324 (24th yr.) 151-123 (9th yr.) DECEMBER Ford’s Career Record: Pitino’s Career Record: Scoring Margin: +24.5 Scoring Margin: +9.1 Sat., 5 Arkansas-Pine Bluff (FSMW) W, 107-54 Leading Scorer: Javonte Perkins (19.5 ppg) Leading Scorer: Marcus Carr (22.7 ppg) Tue., 8 Central Arkansas (FSMW) W, 88-65 Leading Reb.: Jordan Goodwin (11.0 rpg) Leading Reb.: Liam Robbins (6.9 rpg) Sat., 12 Evansville (NBCSN) Canceled Assists Leader: Yuri Collins (7.3 apg) Assists Leader: Marcus Carr (5.9 apg) Tue., 15 Indiana State (FSMW) W, 78-59 Blocks Leader: Hasahn French (2.0 bpg) Blocks Leader: Liam Robbins (2.1 bpg) Thu., 17 NC State (FSMW) W, 80-69 Steals Leader: Jordan Goodwin (2.3 spg) Steals Leader: Jarvis Omersa (1.3 spg) Sun., 20 at Minnesota (FS1) 7:30 p.m. Next Game: Wed., Dec. 23, vs. Kansas City Next Game: Fri., Dec. 15, vs. Iowa Wed., 23 Kansas City (FSMW) 7 p.m. Wed., 30 Duquesne* (FSMW) 6 p.m. JANUARY THE OPENING TIP... Sat., 2 Massachusetts* (NBCSN) 5:30 p.m. n Wed., 6 at La Salle* (ESPN+) TBA Saint Louis has won 11 games in a row dating back to February of last season. That Sat., 9 at Saint Joseph’s* (NBCSN) 5 p.m. is tied for the third longest active winning streak in the country. n The Billikens continue to improve their vote total in the AP Top 25 but are still just Fri., 15 Davidson* (ESPN) TBA on the outside of cracking the Top 25. SLU is second among teams “also receiving Wed., 20 at Massachusetts* (FSMW) 5 p.m. votes” this week. Already 2-0 this week with wins over Indiana State and NC State, Sat., 23 St. Bonaventure* (ESPN) TBA the Billikens are on the cusp of entering the AP Top 25 for the first time since the Tue., 26 Dayton* (CBSSN) TBA 2013-14 campaign. Fri., 29 at Richmond* (ESPN) TBA n The Billikens lead the Atlantic 10 and rank 21st nationally in scoring offense (87.8 FEBRUARY ppg). The +24.5 scoring margin is 17th overall in the NCAA and sixth nationally Sat., 6 at George Washington* (CBSSN) TBA among teams who have played six or more games. Wed., 10 Rhode Island* (CBSSN) TBA n SLU leads the league and ranks in the top 15 in the NCAA in both 3FG% (5th, .446) Sat., 13 at Fordham* (CBSSN) TBA and FG% (13th, .527). Tue., 16 La Salle* (FSMW) 7 p.m. n The Billikens’ +12.2 rebounding margin ranks seventh in the NCAA among teams Fri., 19 at Dayton* (ESPN) TBA who have played six or more games. Tue., 23 at VCU* (CBSSN) TBA n Jordan Goodwin is averaging a double-double with 15.2 ppg and a league- Fri., 26 Richmond* (ESPN) TBA leading 11.0 rpg (11th in the NCAA). He is one of four players in the NCAA with a MARCH nation-leading five double-doubles so far this year. Goodwin has 28 career double- Tue., 2 George Mason* (CBSSN) TBA doubles, fourth among all active players in NCAA Division I and first among guards. TBD n Javonte Perkins continues to lead the team in scoring with 19.5 ppg. He is shooting TBA at St. Bonaventure* TBA 56.6 percent (43-76) from the floor and 58.3 percent from the arc (14-24). ^ Billiken Classic n Yuri Collins is 14th in the NCAA and tops in the A-10 with 7.3 assists per game. *A-10 game n Gibson Jimerson has buried a team-high 16 treys and shoots 44.4% from the arc. LAST GAME STARTERS #0 #1 #3 #11 #24 Yuri Jordan Gibson Hasahn Javonte FRENCH COLLINS PERKINS JIMERSON GOODWIN Goodwin’s Season Averages Collins’ Season Averages Perkins’ Season Averages French’s Season Averages Jimerson’s Season Averages PPG RPG APG MPG PPG RPG APG MPG PPG RPG APG MPG PPG RPG BPG MPG PPG RPG APG MPG 15.2 11.0 3.5 30.2 7.5 2.8 7.3 28.2 19.5 3.7 2.5 27.8 8.3 8.3 2.0 23.7 13.2 1.8 0.7 24.3 BILLIKENS VS. GOLDEN GOPHERS ABOUT SUNDAY’S GAME uThe Billikens head to Minneapolis to face the University of Minnesota in SLU’s first road contest of the season. Game time is 7:30 p.m. uTEAM COMPARISON uThe game will be televised nationally on FS1, with and SLU MINN Bob Brainerd Trent 87.8 ..................Points per game .................. 81.4 Tucker calling the action. 63.3 ...........Points allowed per game .......... 72.3 uKMOX 1120 AM is the home for Billiken Basketball on the radio. As always, +24.5 ................Scoring Margin...................+9.1 Billiken Hall of Famers Bob Ramsey and Earl Austin Jr. are on the call. .527 ................... FG Percentage ................... .420 .403 ..........Opponent FG Percentage ......... .420 LAST TIME OUT .446 .................. 3FG Percentage ................. ..285 uSaint Louis outscored North Carolina State 32-14 over the final 11 minutes .319 ........ Opponent 3FG Percentage ........ .333 and walked away with an 80-69 win over the Wolfpack Thursday night at 8.3 ................3FG Made Per Game ................ 6.4 Chaifetz Arena. .748 ............ Free Throw Percentage ............ .718 u 14.8 .......Free Throws Made Per Game ....... 21.9 The victory lifted SLU to 6-0 for the first time since the 2011-12 season and +12.2 ............Rebounding Margin ............... -0.9 extended the Billikens’ winning streak to 11 dating to last season. NC State fell 20.3 ................. Assists Per Game ................. 16.3 to 3-1. 13.0 .............. Turnovers Per Game .............. 10.7 uJavonte Perkins tied for game-high scoring honors with 20 points, including 1.6 ................ Assist-Turnover Ratio ................ 1.5 16 in a second half that saw Saint Louis shoot 59 percent (17-of-29) from the 9.3 ....................Steals Per Game .................... 7.3 field. Perkins matched his season high of five rebounds. 3.3 ................... Blocks Per Game ................... 5.0 uJordan Goodwin registered his 28th career double-double, and fifth in six games this season, with 16 points and a season- and game-high 15 rebounds. uSERIES NOTES Goodwin added a season- and game-high five assists. This will be the sixth meeting between the u Billikens and Golden Gophers ... Minnesota Yuri Collins scored a career-high 17 points and tied Goodwin for game-high leads the all-time series 3-2 (including vacated honors with five assists.Gibson Jimerson connected on three 3-pointers and games – see note below) ... three of the games finished with 12 points, whileHasahn French pulled down a season-high 13 have come in postseason play – the 1995 rebounds as the Billikens out-rebounded the Wolfpack 53-26 overall and 15-6 NCAA Tournament and NIT matchups in 1996 on the offensive glass. Demarius Jacobs hit a trey and broke the press for an and 2003. emphatic dunk to put the Billikens up by double-digits late. u uSERIES RESULTS SLU outscored NC State 23-15 from the free throw line, going 23-of-31 for 74 Date Location SLU’s Outcome percent. The Billikens held the Wolfpack to 38 percent from the floor, including 12/16/46 Minneapolis L, 36-40 just 4-of-18 (22 percent) from the arc. 12/6/47 St. Louis W, 50-42 ^ 3/16/95 Baltimore W, 64-61 (OT)* POLLING PLACE # 3/13/96 Minneapolis L, 52-68* u # 3/19/03 St. Louis L, 52-62 The Billikens continue to move up in the AP Top 25 among teams “also ^ NCAA Tournament receiving votes.” They are second (essentially ranked No. 27) with 121, the third # National Invitation Tournament consecutive week they have increased their vote total. * Vacated (by Minnesota) due to NCAA action uIf the Billikens crack the Top 25, it would be the their first time ranked since SLU’s final ranking of No. 25 in 2013-14. That year, SLU climbed all the way up to No. 10 in the nation in consecutive weeks in February. uA little-known fact is that the Billikens were ranked No. 1 in the inaugural AP poll released on Jan. 17, 1949. The reigning NIT champions that year, SLU held the top spot again the next week before being overtaken by eventual NCAA champion Kentucky. GETTING DEFENSIVE uThe Billikens have a saying on the bench when on defense, “Make a Play.” A “play” refers to either a deflection, block, steal, or taking a charge. uThere have been plenty of “plays” falling into the steals category recently. Last Tuesday against Central Arkansas, the Billikens registered 16 steals, the most in a game since the Billikens twice turned in 16 steals in the 2003-04 season.