The first 20 minutes of Isaiah Swope’s life as a ºüÀêÊÓƵ University basketball player were not a great way to start. He took just one shot in the first half, scored just four points and turned the ball over three times. SLU was outscored by 12 points during his 12:21 on the floor and trailed Division II Rockhurst by three at the half.
Saint Louis University Men's Basketball player Isaiah Swope looks to pass during a practice drill on Sept. 23, 2024, at Chaifetz Arena in ºüÀêÊÓƵ.
The first two minutes of the second half were a different matter. Swope hit a 3-pointer on SLU’s first possession, drove to the basket to score on the next, and then hit another 3 to swing the game irrevocably in SLU’s favor. Swope finished with 14 points as SLU ganged up on its cross-state Jesuit rival 86-65 in an exhibition game at Chaifetz Arena. Though it didn’t count, it was the first game for new SLU head coach Josh Schertz. The Billikens were without their top player, transfer Robbie Avila, who came with Schertz from Indiana State but is out with an ankle injury.
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Amari McCottry led SLU in scoring with 16 points, all in the second half.
Swope, a 5-10 guard, also came from Indiana State, where he averaged 15.9 points per game and had been a second-team all-Missouri Valley Conference player last season as the Sycamores made a run to the NIT championship game. In addition to his 14 points he had three assists and, after his three turnovers in the first half, none in the second. In his 12 minutes in the second half, SLU outscored Rockhurst by 23 points.
Swope was the catalyst for a 24-6 run by SLU in the first 8:24 as it almost matched its first-half total of 30 points.
Gibson Jimerson also had 14 points for SLU and played the first 30 minutes of the game before coming out. He made only 1 of his 8 3-point tries. Kalu Anya, a transfer from Brown, had 11 rebounds and 12 points.
The beginning was not auspicious for SLU.
It trailed at the half 33-30, shooting 35.7 percent from the field and turning the ball over 11 times, many of them on drives to the basket or just trying to get the ball inside. Jimerson played the full 20 minutes and had 10 points, making just one of six 3-point tries.
ºüÀêÊÓƵ U. head basketball coach Josh Schertz speaks with the media on Friday, Oct. 18, 2024, after an exhibition win over Rockhurst at Chaifetz Arena. (Video by Ethan Erickson, Post-Dispatch)
ºüÀêÊÓƵ U. basketball forward Kalu Anya speaks with the media on Friday, Oct. 18, 2024, after an exhibition win over Rockhurst at Chaifetz Arena. (Video by Ethan Erickson, Post-Dispatch)
New ºüÀêÊÓƵ University men’s basketball coach Josh Schertz talks with his players during practice on Tuesday, June 4, 2024, at Chaifetz Arena.
SLU’s only lead in the first half came at 12-10 after a 10-0 run that included 3-pointers by Kalu Anya and Larry Hughes II. It also followed a timeout by Schertz after a turnover by Swope led to a Rockhurst layup that put SLU behind 8-2.
With Avila out with an ankle injury, the starting five is almost certainly not the opening day starting five.
Two returnees, Jimerson and Kellen Thames, started, along with three transfers, Swope, Anya and Kobe Johnson (West Virginia). Johnson finished with 11 points.
SLU will play its second exhibition game next Friday at Chaifetz against Maryville and then open its season on Nov. 4 vs. Santa Clara at Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
