BUFFALO, N.Y. – Heading into Thursday's Round of 64 showdown between Georgia and Saint Louis, many media members were expecting a high-powered shootout. In fact, when our very own Will Warren ranked all 32 first-round games, this one came in at No. 1 on his list. Two extremely efficient offenses were facing off; what wasn't to like?
Well, for all the hype surrounding this one, the game fell completely flat. On the grandest stage of college basketball, it was the Billikens offense that delivered, scoring 1.34 points per possession en route to a 102-77 victory.
After approximately five minutes of stagnation, the nine seed flipped the switch and cut through the Dawgs defense like a knife through hot butter. The synergy within Saint Louis was off the charts, and together, the roster combined to give the program its first NCAA Tournament win since 2014.
"I thought our spacing was great, our active spacing was great," head coach Josh Schertz said. "We had a bunch of active drives and got the ball downhill. I thought we were disciplined with our QB – we call them QB decisions, but rim decisions, and [we] found guys both on the perimeter and in the paint."
All good offenses need to have a stellar initiator, and Schertz had one Thursday in Xavier transfer Trey Green. The sophomore was dynamic bringing the ball up the court, looking unfazed against both Smurf Millender and Jordan Ross. When any defender dared to gamble against Green and go for a steal, he typically made them pay.
One of the prettiest offensive plays of the night came from the point guard, in a moment when the Atlantic 10 squad was still building its lead. Up nine with just over seven minutes remaining in the first, Green dribbled up top before pulling a nasty snatchback on his defender. His man was nowhere to be found as the guard sank the triple, giving the Billikens a double-digit lead that they never relinquished. Green ultimately finished with seven points, six rebounds and five assists.
The other guards and wings from Saint Louis offered the perfect blend of IQ and pizzazz. Northern Illinois transfer Quentin Jones made the play of the night when he climbed the ladder on freshman big Kareem Stagg, detonating with a mean right-handed jam. Amari McCottry proved to be a great attacking option, slicing to the rim with ease against his SEC counterparts. Brady Dunlap also lived up to his role as a sniper, relocating to the perfect spot each time for catch-and-shoot threes.
The best of the bunch between positions 1-3, however, was Dion Brown. At 6-foot-3 and 180 pounds, Brown isn't a physically imposing guard, but he can score in bunches. Against Georgia, an already-wide scoreline got even wider when the Boston College transfer made two consecutive layups and a dunk to open the second half. The solo 6-0 run made up a third of Brown's 18 points, which led his team.
Brown does have some scoring chops on the perimeter, but he stuck to what worked on Thursday, taking nine of his 10 shots within the arc. Like McCottry, Brown was a problem downhill, finishing via both simplicity and complex moves that wooed the crowd, like a nasty euro step that he pulled off in the middle of the first half.
"We are an offense where if a guy drives, you better make that cut, and I made the cut," Brown said. "Guys got me open. I was able to hit guys, find seams, and it just worked out in my favor today."
Down low, multiple players made an impact, but you'd be remiss not to focus the attention on Robbie Avila. The man of many nicknames was well-known coming into KeyBank Center, but by the end of the night, he had advanced from an intriguing talent to the main attraction.
Ultimately, the big man's night was nothing out of the ordinary: he finished with 12 points on 4-for-6 shooting, five rebounds and five assists. Still, Avila had the crowd eating out of his hand all night, with a simple post move or bounce pass whipping the 15,000+ into a frenzy.
The lone deep ball made by Avila came at a tipping point for fan excitement. The lead was at 31 and counting when the big man got the ball at the right wing with nobody in front of him. Collecting himself for a moment, the crowd began to cheer, knowing what was coming. He fulfilled their expectations and made the shot; the bloodbath continued.
No matter if it was the opening five minutes or the final five minutes of the game, the Billikens never strayed from pushing the pace. While Schertz's squad actually scored fewer fastbreak points than the Bulldogs, it felt like the team refused to slow down, lining up quick off makes and misses alike. If a shot wasn't generated within the first 7-8 seconds of a possession, the exhaustive nature of Saint Louis' tempo still caught Georgia's defense in an occasional state of flux. From there, the Billikens pounced, and they continued to pounce as the Bulldogs struggled to make adjustments.
If tonight was a test for Schertz and his offense, Saturday is the final exam, as the team will take on No. 1 Michigan and its No. 2-ranked defense. Ken Pomeroy's site gives Saint Louis just a 13% chance at victory in that contest; tough, but fair given the Wolverines' dominance. How can the Billikens, and other squads with slim odds in this tournament, maximize that number? Out-shoot the opponent, put pressure on the rim and hope that shooting variance falls your way. The nine seed did all of that and much more on Thursday night.
