Saint Louis is rolling into A10 play with historic start

There is a historic season brewing at Chaifetz Arena. In the second year of the Josh Schertz era in Saint Louis, the Billikens are 15-1 overall and have opened conference play a perfect 3-0, the program’s best start since 1993-94.

A spot at 34th in KenPom’s rankings is Saint Louis’ highest position since early 2023-24, with the Billikens now quietly climbing onto the national radar. It’s a start that included multiple wins over top 125 teams, beginning with a 78-64 beatdown of Grand Canyon in which Schertz and Co. led for the full 40 minutes.

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An early five-game win streak came into jeopardy in late November as Saint Louis and Santa Clara battled to a 71-70 final. In the wake of 13 ties and 10 lead changes between the two, it took a Kellen Thames game-winner to separate both sides.

Though it was followed up with their only loss of the season, 78-77 at the hands of Stanford, the Billikens haven’t lost since and are steamrolling opponents by an average of 30.1 points. A 21-point road win against Loyola Marymount was Saint Louis’ response before reaching the century mark by dropping 107 on Central Michigan.

After starting conference play with a 102-79 win over Saint Joseph’s, the Billikens picked up their lone Quad-1 win in a meeting of the Atlantic 10’s highest-ranked programs. Saint Louis traveled to Richmond, Va., on Jan. 7 and, for the only time in 11 visits to the Siegel Center, defeated VCU in an upset of the league’s preseason favorite.

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Most recently, the Billikens took care of business and beat La Salle, 84-72 on the road, once again leading for the games entirety. Though all these big wins have been powered by one of the highest scoring offenses in the nation, it’s Saint Louis’ defense that’s smothered opponents along this momentous start.

“Just our overall athleticism and versatility,” Schertz said to Mid-Major Madness when asked about his team’s defense. “We have the ability to switch on a lot of stuff which…

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Publish date : 2026-01-12 16:00:00

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