Billikens Bigs Dominate SEMO

Saint Louis University sophomores Brian Conklin and Willie Reed established dominance in the paint early and often to lead the Billikens to a 59-41 victory over Southeast Missouri State in the regular-season opener for both teams on Saturday night at the Chaifetz Arena.
The 6'9" Reed had 15 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks on the evening while the 6'6" Conklin bulldozed his way to 14 points and eight rebounds. It was Reed's first double-double of his career. Hopefully, there will be many more in the future.
The first half belonged to Conklin, the "Eugene Enforcer." Despite playing with a sprained ankle, Conklin got the Billikens rolling early with nine points and five rebounds in the first eight minutes of the game. Brian missed much of last week's practices as he received constant treatment on his ankle, but he looked quite bouncy as he displayed a improved shooting touch around the basket and a fiesty desire for offensive rebounds.
Meanwhile, Reed was making his presence felt on defensive end early with three blocks, including two on SEMO's first possession of the game. The Bills enjoyed a 44-31 edge on the boards thanks to the work of the sophomore bigs.
As bonus, freshman Corey Remekun had five rebounds and one block and freshman Jon Smith contributed a blocked shot as the SEMO players found the going tough around the basket during the Billiken Block party. The Billikens were officially credited with six blocks, but I think there might have been one or two more that were missed. There was one play where Willie and Jon blocked a shot at the same time.
Sophomore guard Kwamain Mitchell contributed 13 points, two assists and two steals to the effort. In total, the three "veteran" Billikens Conklin, Reed and Mitchell combined for 42 of the team's 59 points.
The Billikens held a 36-20 lead early in the second half, but the Redhawks fought back to cut the lead to 41-36. SLU answered with an 8-0 to take regain control of the game, with a transition 3-pointer by Kyle Cassity and conventional three-point play by Reed as the big plays. Reed's And 1 came off a nice feed from Mitchell for a spectacular dunk.
Freshman Justin Jordan continued his fine perimeter shooting with two 3-point buckets in the first half.
It was a solid effort and the kids played hard, especially on defense and on the boards. Free throw shooting continues to be an issue as the Billikens made only 11 of their 23 attempts. That's less than 50 percent and that has to improve. It must improve. We must also clean up our ball security as we committed 15 turnovers. Hopefully, our perimeter shooting will come around a little bit. We had plenty of open looks throughout the game, but couldn't convert. It we start to hit some of those, life will be much easier for Willie and Brian inside.
All in all, it was a solid effort that the crowd enjoyed. I saw lot of smiles as I watched people leave the Chaifetz. Part of that was obviously because of the victory. I also think that a big part was the 40-minute effort that the kids put out last night, which fans always appreciate. Even with all of the mistakes and poor shooting, a strong effort, especially defensively and on the boards, can get you through those rough patches.
Next on the slate is Nebraska, a Big XII Conference opponent that earned an NIT berth last season. We'll get to the Huskers later this week.
Anyway, congrats to the Billikids on getting the first one under the belt.

Earl's Note: Sorry for the double photo of Willie. I am just getting into the 21st century with all of this blogging and technology. I haven't figured it all out yet. You weren't seeing double. Just pressed the wrong button. My bad.