ºüÀêÊÓƵ

On this particular play in ºüÀêÊÓƵ University’s first game, SLU whooshed the ball around the perimeter, zipped it to the zig-zagger, back outside, back inside and, finally, outside again for a 3.

With Robbie Avila as the fulcrum — and Isaiah Swope as the defense-disruptor and distributor — the Billikens scored on this first-half possession, as Indiana State did so often last season.

Much, of course, is made about Avila’s versatility, but Swope’s abilities are important for what SLU wants to do.

And now, even more so.

In Monday’s 85-78 loss to a talented Santa Clara team, Swope finished with a team-high 24 points and five assists.

And Avila finished early with yet another ankle injury.

SLU coach Josh Schertz — who brought both players from Indiana State — said Avila will likely be out “a period of time.� Now, SLU can’t just replicate Avila’s role. The dude is a 6-foot-10 precision passer from the perimeter. But the guard Swope can swoop in and take an even bigger leadership role. And Swope can aim to play a more efficient brand of basketball — in Monday’s loss, he was 8 for 20 from the field and committed four turnovers.

And Swope can work to contribute earlier in games — something noted in the preseason and on Monday, during which he had five first-half points and 19 in the second half.

“I thought he was willing us back in (the game) — he made some huge 3s,� Schertz said in a postgame Zoom with the media. “He kept attacking, getting downhill. I thought the late-game critical offense went to him.�

Schertz and Swope concocted a savvy strategy in Monday’s second half — the Billikens just kept setting picks until 6-foot-9 Jake Ensminger ended up on Swope. Then, the little guy just cooked him. The 5-foot-10 Swope used his dribbling and speed to create open space and splash 3s.

But even though Swope is point-guard size — and even though he can, as seen Monday, take guys off the dribble and then drive — Schertz said Swope is at his best when he’s not handling the ball for stretches.

“That frees him up to do what he does best, which is score,� Schertz said.

Swope is such a fun player to watch. I vividly remember him from the Missouri Valley Conference title game last spring. Indiana State was down big. Fourteen with eight minutes left! And then Swope scored 12 points in four minutes and the Sycamores took the lead (alas, they lost).

Sure enough, in that loss to Drake, Swope also scored 19 points in the second half.

“Certainly I thought Swope was good (Monday),� Schertz said. “The thing about Isaiah is — he keeps coming, he keeps attacking. He’s so ignitable. He can miss three or four in a row, and then next thing he makes three or four in a row. Or he can look like he’s not doing anything. And then he can score 10 points in two minutes. I wish it was more like a steady drip, but it just is what it is. He can really look bad. And then he can be amazing.�

So that will be a huge challenge for Swope with Avila out — reducing the “bad.� But Swope is a dedicated competitor and one season more seasoned.

“Isaiah is just a great leader,� SLU teammate Kellen Thames said. “He’s a scorer. He does that at the highest level. And we try to just find the mismatches.�

I really liked Swope’s answer Monday when asked about filling a void left by Avila.

“I would just say, just keep trying to make the right play,� Swope said. “You know, Robbie can score, pass, dribble and shoot. If I try to focus too much on, ‘He’s out, I got to score a lot,’ I feel it’ll throw off my whole game, you know? If one of my teammates is open and I’m over here trying to force an offensive play, I need to still be able to make the right to play at the end of the day.�

In Monday’s game, Swope finished 6 for 14 from 3-point range, while making five in the second half (his 3 in the first half, though, was arguably a “logo 3,� as popularized by Stephen Curry and Caitlin Clark). He contributed by drawing a tough charge, too — perhaps with the momentum and fearlessness mustered from making three 3s in a short period of time. And he cut to the hoop a few times for layups, but one wonders if he could do so more ... and perhaps get to the foul line more.

Swope is SLU’s second-best player. And so, without its best player, “Isaiah is going to have to be a key,� Schertz said. “He’s got to spearhead this. ...

“It’ll be a cumulative thing. We’ve got to have more guys play well. The menu will change, and we got to have some guys step up and be ready to absorb and take, honestly, a more significant role. ... And we got to get back to practice and really start trying to figure that out. Because there’s a chance that we’ll be without him here for a period of time. We got a lot of games to play, and we got to figure it out without him until he’s back.�