The Saint Louis Billikens cruised to both the Atlantic 10 regular season and tournament title, and will be dancing for the second consecutive year. Here are five things you didn’t know about Saint Louis University:
1. They’re playing for their head coach. Legendary coach Rick Majerus passed away in December, and the Billikens have dedicated this season to his memory. Interim head coach Jim Crews has done a fantastic job of keeping this team on track and accentuating the ideals Majerus was known for. Namely, that’s tough defense. Speaking of that…
2. They play incredible defense. The Billikens are holding teams to fewer than 60 points per game, and can smother you in the backcourt. They have opponents to shoot just 26 percent from beyond the arc in their past 10 games, which is staggering.
3. They’re on fire. The Billikens have won 15 of 16, with their lone loss a 77-76 overtime defeat at Xavier. In fact, since starting 3-3, Saint Louis is 24-3, and has run roughshod over the rest of the Atlantic 10.
4. Four players average in double figures in scoring. Dwayne Evans, Cody Ellis, Kwamain Mitchell, and Mike McCall Jr. can all fill it up, and Jordair Jett averages 9.3 per. Beyond that, the Billikens are loaded with experience, as most of their rotation guys are juniors and seniors. Senior point guard Kwamain Mitchell is their emotional leader.
5. Even Saint Louis University doesn’t know what a Billiken is. According to the university website, “the history of [our] mascot and how it became affiliated with SLU remains debatable to this day.” It goes on to say that the mascot is basically a good luck charm derived from a statuette that swept the nation like the Pet Rock in the early 1900s.
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Kels Dayton is a freelance writer whose work has also appeared in SLAM Magazine. You can check out more of his work at RoundballDaily.com. Follow him on Twitter @RoundballDaily.