By RUSTY MILLER, AP Sports Writer
9 hours, 9 minutes ago
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP)—During his years away from coaching as an ESPN commentator, Rick Majerus figured he’d have the perfect forum to discuss how much fun defense is.
Then he learned otherwise.
He said he was told, “We’re not going to show some guy in a defensive stance on SportsCenter.”
No problem. His team got to put on a show for a national audience watching the NCAA tournament.
Kwamain Mitchell supplied the offense with 22 points, including three big 3-pointers, and Saint Louis rode its gritty defense to a 61-54 victory over Memphis on Friday night in a West Regional second-round game.
The result was vintage Majerus, the colorful coach who led Utah to the 1998 national championship game. The Tigers wanted to run, Saint Louis wouldn’t let them. A team averaging more than 75 points per game was stymied, saddled and shut down.
“We wanted to make sure we limited their fast-break baskets and make defense a priority,” said Majerus, who has won more than 500 games as a coach at Marquette, Ball State, Utah and Saint Louis.
Mitchell closed the first half by banking in a 3, then nailed two others to help the ninth-seeded Billikens (26-7) overturn an eight-point deficit in the second half. They advanced to play the winner of LIU Brooklyn and top-seeded Michigan State on Sunday.
“I came in with the attitude that we had something to fight for,” Mitchell said. “Win, or lose and go home.”
Brian Conklin added 16 points, including five free throws in the final minute to salt the game away.
Some observers thought the Billikens were overmatched. Memphis was bigger, stronger, deeper, more athletic and had more NCAA experience. As Majerus had said a day earlier, Saint Louis didn’t have any future pros on its roster.
“It’s fun to come out and prove people wrong,” Conklin said.
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