Getty Saint Louis Billikens guard Jordan Goodwin.
The Saint Louis Billikens basketball team will host the LSU Tigers at Chaifetz Arena on Saturday in the Billiken Classic.
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The game (3 p.m. ET start time) won’t be on regular TV anywhere, but you can watch LSU vs Saint Louis on ESPN+ right here:
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You can also watch on your computer via ESPN.com.
LSU vs Saint Louis Preview
The Tigers triumphed in their first Billiken Classic test, besting the SIU Edwardsville Cougars 94-81 on Thursday to open their year 1-0. They took a 26-4 lead nine minutes into the first half.
“The first eight to 10 minutes, we guarded really, really well,” LSU head coach Will Wade said, according to The Advocate. “Then we started getting splits in the gaps; once we got splits in the gaps, we were giving up long closeouts and corner 3s.
“When we get split up, the top guy in the paint has to close out. That creates the long corner 3s and they hit some. That’s all stuff we can correct.”
LSU guard Cameron Thomas led all participants with 27 points in his collegiate debut. Tigers forward Trendon Watford dished a game-high 9 assists and grabbed a team-high 7 rebounds to go with 13 points, 3 steals and a block.
“This is going to be a big step up in weight class with Saint Louis,” Wade said, per The Advocate. “It’s going to be a big game, it’s going to be like an NCAA tournament-level game. They played well (Wednesday), and they didn’t have one of their best players.”
He added: “It’ll be a big, big game for us, but our guys will be ready to go and locked in. We’re going to play a lot harder and play a lot better play, and we’ll get some things fixed.”
The Billikens opened their 2020-21 campaign a day earlier against the Cougars, winning 89-52 behind a game-high 22 points from Javonte Perkins, who went 8-of-11 from the field and 4-of-5 from distance.
“Be aggressive — that’s what team needs me to do,” Perkins said, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “They need me to score. I have a little more confidence than last year. I was just coming in and trying to understand everything. I made a change in my shot and I think it’s working for me.”
Saint Louis led 48-18 at the midway break despite missing big man Hasahn French, an Atlantic 10 all-defensive team selection a season ago, who’s going through concussion protocol. He’ll be a game-time decision on Saturday.
Billikens guard Jordan Goodwin led all participants with 11 rebounds to go with 12 points, 4 assists and a pair of steals.
“I thought we did a very good job and gave them only 18 points, which really could have been 12,” Goodwin said of the team’s first half, per the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “The defense was pretty good and our rebounding effort was, too. Without having ‘Has’ out there, I feel a lot of guys crashed with me.”