Getty Saint Louis Billikens guard Jordan Goodwin.
The Saint Louis Billikens basketball team will host the SIU Edwardsville Cougars at Chaifetz Arena on Wednesday in each squad’s season opener.
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The game (7 p.m. ET start time) won’t be on regular TV anywhere, but you can watch SIU-Edwardsville vs Saint Louis on ESPN+ right here:
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SIU-Edwardsville vs Saint Louis Preview
The Billikens are bringing back their top eight per-game scorers from a squad that went 23-8 overall and 12-6 in Atlantic 10 play last season, head coach Travis Ford’s fourth at the helm.
Among the returnees are a trio of decorated seniors: Jordan Goodwin scored a team-high 15.5 points per game last year and earned Atlantic 10 all-defense and first-team all-conference honors; fellow guard Javonte Perkins was named the conference sixth man of the year and earned a third-team all-conference nod after scoring 15 per game; and big man Hasahn French scored 12.4 points per game to go with a conference-high 10.4 boards and a conference-third-best 2.6 blocks per contest, earning his second A-10 all-defense selection and a spot on the all-conference second team.
“It’s going to be extremely tough for opponents considering that at all times all five (Billikens) can score at a high level,” Billikens guard Fred Thatch Jr. said, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “Javonte is an elite scorer and Jordan (Goodwin) has turned himself into an elite scorer. We have so many different weapons that teams will have a hard time matching up with us.”
Saint Louis will also brings back sharpshooter Gibson Jimerson, who scored 10.8 points per game last season, fourth on the team, but played just 10 contests before suffering a foot injury. He shot 42.9 percent from 3-point range and hit 2.4 triples per game, both team highs.
“I just think it creates a lot more space for everyone when you have guys like Gibson and Fred who can shoot it,” Ford said, per the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “It creates a little more freedom and a little more space for everyone, and that’s a plus when teams start packing it in on us quite a bit.”
SIU Edwardsville went 8-23 overall and 5-13 in the Ohio Valley Conference last year in their first season under head coach Brian Barone.
The Cougars have since lost three starters, including their two leading scorers, and added seven newcomers. Guard Cameron Williams, now a junior, averaged 9.6 points, 2.2 assists and 1 steal per game, ranking third, second and second on the team.
“We need to play together and be able to be coached while controlling our emotions,” Barone said, according to the school’s athletics department website. “Last year I erred on energy, effort and enthusiasm. Now we have to take the next step and learn to play together through the emotion. We have to listen and hear one another and not let our emotions get the best of us. We just have to really focus on the next play.”