With eight available scholarship players, including four freshmen, and three of them hobbling around the court on injured parts, ºüÀêÊÓƵ University managed to build a 19-point lead at the start of the second half at Drake.
The question was how the Billikens would hold up Wednesday night playing their second straight road game after being crushed four days earlier.
They weathered the first Drake push in the second half, but the second put the Bulldogs over the top for a 75-69 win in a game SLU led for more than 30 minutes.
Drake (8-1), the Missouri Valley Conference favorite, went on a 12-0 run and regained the lead with 2:25 left, sending SLU (5-5) to its third straight loss.
“I think it had a lot to do with (fatigue),†Ford said. “We were doing everything we could to change defenses and give guys a break. We totally managed the game the way we wanted in the first half. We had points we wanted to check every minute, and we were right on point.
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“In the second half, we couldn’t get a call. We could not get a call. We were getting in the paint and getting raked. And we had bad shots that led to transition and that absolutely killed us — that and their big man went to work on us.â€
The Billikens were without Mike Meadows Jr. (back), who remained in ºüÀêÊÓƵ for treatment, and Larry Hughes II with an unspecified injury. With Sincere Parker out, that meant three starting guards from the season opener were sidelined.
Kellen Thames turned an ankle in the first half and didn’t return until midway through the second. Gibson Jimerson played 40 minutes with a sprained ankle that had him limping noticeably at times and struggling to cut.
He nonetheless scored 23 points to help keep SLU in the lead most of the game.
“I kept asking, ‘Are you OK?’ and he said he was fine,†Ford said. “I kept wanting to give him a break, but we needed him on the court. He draws a lot of attention and played a whale of a game. Everybody did.â€
Ford started freshman Bruce Zhang for the first time to get an inside presence, and he produced offensively and on the boards early. Freshman Stef van Bussel also was in the mix at center.
When freshman Cian Medley went out with two fouls, freshman Djordje Curcic was used at point guard a majority of the first half. SLU kept on clicking.
Ford used switching defenses to cause Drake problems. During one stretch, three straight turnovers by the home team led to transition layups for the Billikens, who used a 15-0 run to take a 41-25 lead.
The defense — much of the credit going to Tim Dalger — also slowed Tucker DeVries, who scored 10 points, which is half his season average.
But Drake made a quick push and caught SLU at 51 with 11 minutes left.
The Billikens pulled out to a seven-point lead again, but a string of missed layups kept them from rebuilding a double-digit cushion. Jimerson continually tried to drive and draw contact but ended up with several awkward shots and turnovers.
“We heard several smacks,†Ford said. “We knew they were going to make a run, but we just couldn’t seem to get the momentum back. We missed key rebounds. It was a good learning experience for the big guys.â€
As good as SLU looked in the first half, Drake was able to counter in the second, especially with Darnell Brodie having an impact around the basket.
The Billikens had probably their best defensive half in the first 20 minutes, only to give up 50 points in the second half.
“We were turning it over, and they were scoring too quick,†Ford said. “We’re hurt and guys are giving it everything they had. That didn’t change in the second half. We played hard, but everything we did well in the first half, we did poorly in the second.â€