Saint Louis (16-4, 4-2 A-10) vs. UMass (15-5, 4-2 A-10)

Saturday, January 28, 2012 • 1 p.m. (CT) • Mullins Center (8,373)

TV: CBS Sports Regional (CCIN in St. Louis, available on Channels 3 or 8 to Charter subscribers. Also available on CSN New England on DirecTV [630] or Dish Network [435])

Radio: 101 ESPN (Bob Ramsey, Earl Austin Jr.)

NOTABLES

• Fresh off an impressive 73-68 victory at Xavier, Saint Louis heads to UMass Saturday afternoon in a battle against two teams tied atop the league standings. Game time at the Mullins Center is slated for 1 p.m. (CT). The game will be televised by CBS Sports Regional and will air on CCIN in St. Louis.
• SLU enters Wednesday's game 16-4 overall, 4-2 in the Atlantic 10 while winning three in a row. UMass (15-5, 4-2 A-10), one of the surprise teams in the A-10 this year, is coming off an 79-68 win at Richmond.
• Senior forward Brian Conklin leads the team in scoring with 14.6 ppg. He needs 21 more points to reach 1,000 for his career.
• Junior guard Kwamain Mitchell is second on the team with 11.7 ppg and leads the team in assists (80) and steals (28).
• Junior forward Cody Ellis is third on the squad with 11.2 ppg. He has drilled a team-best 44 3-pointers, which is tied for fifth in the A-10 (2.2 per game).
• Sophomore forward Dwayne Evans leads the team and ranks 14th in the Atlantic 10 with 6.1 rpg. He averages 6.8 rpg in A-10 games only, which ranks 11th in the league.
• The Billikens rank 7th in the country in scoring defense, yielding an average of 56.2 ppg.
• SLU has committed an average of 11.2 turnovers per game, which ranks 15th nationally.
• Rick Majerus recorded his 500th win Dec. 10 with a 73-62 victory against Illinois-Springfield at Chaifetz Arena. In 25 career seasons, his record stands at 506-212. His five-year mark at SLU is 84-65.

GETTING DEFENSIVE                                                                                                               

• SLU leads the A-10 and ranks seventh nationally in scoring defense as opponents have scored just 56.2 points against the Billikens this season.
• The Billikens have held their opponents to less than 50 points on seven occasions so far this season. In addition, teams have scored less than 40 three times.
• SLU held Duquesne, one of the league's most potent offenses, to a season-low 41 points Jan. 21. SLU held the Dukes' leading scorer, Sean Johnson, to just one point.
• The Billikens turned 22 Charlotte turnovers into 21 points in the one-point road victory Jan. 14. The 22 turnovers are the most by a Billiken opponent since Tennessee State in the season opener.
• Saint Louis held Alabama State to just 35 points Dec. 17, a season low scoring mark allowed by the Bills.
• The Billikens held Southern Illinois to 20.5 percent shooting Nov. 15 and tied a school record by limiting the Salukis to just eight field goals.
• The Billikens own the top three spots in the A-10 for lowest points allowed in a game. SLU yielded 35 against Alabama State, 37 against Tennessee State and 39 against Texas Southern.

ON THE OFFENSIVE                                                                                                                  

• The Billikens are second in the A-10 and rank 49th nationally in field goal percentage, knocking down 47.1 percent of their shots from the floor. SLU is also third in the league in 3-point field goal percentage (39.1 percent) and ranks first in scoring margin (+13.6).
• The Billikens have shot 50 percent or better from the field seven times already this season. They accomplished that feat only six times all of last year.
• The Billikens' 78 points against GW are the most scored by SLU in an A-10 game that ended in regulation since the 2008-09 season, when SLU won at Fordham 88-58.
• SLU's 83 points against Oklahoma in the 76 Classic title game was a season high. The Billikens also shot a season-best 60.4 percent against the Sooners.
• The Billikens drained 14 3-pointers against Villanova, a 76 Classic record. That total was one off the school record of 15, which was accomplished twice.

CONKLIN HAVING CAREER YEAR                                                                                    

Senior forward Brian Conklin leads the team in scoring at 14.6 ppg. His 291 points scored is already a career high, surpassing the 271 he scored a year ago. He is 21 points shy of reaching 1,000 for his career. Conklin, who has already earned an undergraduate degree in business from SLU, is enrolled in the University's MBA program as an Academic All-American candidate.

MITCHELL AMONG TOP POINT GUARDS IN A-10                                                   

Junior point guard Kwamain Mitchell is second on the Billikens in scoring with 11.7 ppg and leads the squad in assists (80) and steals (28). He leads the Atlantic 10 and ranks in the top 50 nationally with a 2.3 assist/turnover ratio. Earlier this year, he became the 25th Billiken to surpass the 1,000 point mark, and he is the active SLU leader with 1,133 points. He is sixth all-time at SLU with 141 career 3-pointers made, and needs just one more to tie Anthony Drejaj (2003-06) for fifth on the all-time list.

ELLIS A THREAT FROM DEEP                                                                                            

Junior forward Cody Ellis has come off the bench in all 20 games this season, is third on the team with 11.2 ppg and has drilled team-best 44 triples. He has drawn rave reviews for his defensive play this season and leads the team in charges taken. 

EVANS LEADS TEAM IN REBOUNDING, DOUBLE-DOUBLES                      

Sophomore forward Dwayne Evans, who was an A-10 All-Rookie pick last season after leading the team with 6.5 rpg, leads the Billikens this year with 6.1 rpg. He notched his third double-double of the season against Duquesne, scoring 13 points and pulling down 10 boards. He is the Billikens' active leader in double-doubles with eight.

SAME STARTING FIVE                                                                                                              

The Billikens have played the same starting lineup in all 20 games this season. Last year, the Billikens utilized 14 different starting lineups.

KWAMAIN MITCHELL GETS TO 1,000, CONKLIN NEXT?                                   

Junior point guard Kwamain Mitchell became the 25th Billiken to record 1,000 career points when he nailed a 3-pointer with 11:40 remaining Dec. 7 against Vermont. Mitchell is SLU's active leader in points scored with 1,124. He is 20th on SLU's all-time scoring list. Senior forward Brian Conklin needs just 21 points to reach the 1,000-point plateau. All members of the 1,000-point club will be recognized next Saturday in the game against Dayton as part of the "Billiken Legends" series.

LAST TIME OUT                                                                                                                             

• The Billikens ended Xavier's record 43-game home winning streak in A-10 play with a 73-68 triumph last Wednesday at Cintas Center.
• The Billikens were clutch down the stretch, hitting 12 of their last 13 free throws in the final six minutes to secure the victory.
• Brian Conklin led the team with 19 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field and 7-of-9 from the charity stripe.
• The Billikens were hot from 3-point range early on, scoring their first nine points on triples by Rob Loe (two) and Kwamain Mitchell.

IN THE RANKINGS                                                                                                                        

• The Billikens cracked the top 25 the week of Nov. 26 (after winning the 76 Classic) when they appeared at No. 23 in the AP poll and No. 25 in the ESPN/USA Today coaches' poll. The week prior (after beating Washington), SLU was receiving votes in both polls.
• The Billikens' last appearance in the AP poll came during the 1993-94 season when they regularly appeared in the polls and was ranked as high as 16th.

ABOUT THE MINUTEMEN                                                                                                       

• UMass (15-5, 4-2 A-10) had its bye week this week and hasn't played since a 79-68 win at Richmond last Saturday.
• The Minutemen are a perfect 10-0 at the Mullins Center this season.
• Guard Chaz Williams leads a balanced offensive attack with 15.9 ppg and 118 assists. Williams is the lone UMass in double figures despite the Minutemen scoring 76.9 ppg, which leads the A-10.
• Raphiael Putney nets 9.6 ppg, while Jesse Morgan pours in 9.0 ppg. Sean Carter pulls down a team-high 6.8 rpg.
• Head coach Derrick Kellogg is 54-58 in his fourth season at his alma mater, his first head-coaching stop.

SAINT LOUIS VS. UMASS • THE SERIES                                                                     

Saint Louis leads the all-time series 5-3, which includes wins in the last three matchups. Last season, SLU claimed a 69-53 victory at Chaifetz Arena. The teams last played at the Mullins Center in 2009-10, with the Billikens coming out on top 69-64. SLU and UMass had played twice before SLU joined the A-10 in 2005, including the first round of the 1998 NCAA Tournament that saw SLU upend the Minutemen 51-46 in Atlanta. That is the Billikens' last NCAA Tournament victory.

SLU HOSTS NCAA REGIONAL

Saint Louis University will serve as the host institution for a 2012 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament Regional, to be played at the Edward Jones Dome March 23 and March 25. It is the 15th occasion that the city of St. Louis has held either a men's or women's NCAA basketball tournament, including five Final Fours.