Saint Louis Billikens Stats at Insiders Betting Digest

Billikens

Saint Louis Billikens

NCAAB – ATLANTIC 10

Arena: Chaifetz Arena
Coach: Travis Ford

TEAM LEADERS

Saint Louis Billikens

Team Summary

The Saint Louis Billikens are once again floating under the radar this season, led by Travis Ford. The Billikens are 11-5 on the season and put some nice pelts on the wall, having defeated Iona, Boise State, and Richmond.

Saint Louis is led this season by a third-year freshman (yes) Gibson Jimerson. After ten games, the 6’5 wing redshirted his freshman season and then took advantage of his “free year” last season.

This year, Jimerson is averaging 16.7 points per game and shooting just a shade under 40% from behind the three-point line. He has already hit 31 triples this season and is well on his way to obliterating his career-high of 37 made last season.

From a wagering standpoint, Saint Louis has been good against the spread. Through 15 games this season, the Billikens are 9-6 against the spread and are outperforming the number by +2.6 points per gamer.

They have been even better at home, going 7-3 ATS with a margin of victory of 17.3 points per game and outperforming the number by +3.8 points per contest.

Saint Louis Billikens Standings

Saint Louis Billikens Betting Trends

Billikens History

Though the Billikens have a solid history, they don’t have the same cache that is associated with many other Atlantic 10 schools. Saint Louis has a strong history of fantastic and underrated coaching hires with strong individual talent on the court as well.

The program came into existence in 1915, playing as an independent. The program maintained its independent status until 1937, when they joined the Missouri Valley Conference. The program struggled mightily through their first six seasons with a 17-56 conference record. They would eventually turn things around under Eddie Hickey in the 1950s.

The program would join the Metro Collegiate Athletic Conference in 1975, the Midwestern City Conference in 1983, the Midwestern Collegiate Conference in 1985, and the Great Midwest Conference in 1991. During the conference turbulence, the program suffered many lean seasons and didn’t make any NCAA Tournament appearances between 1957 and 1994.

Their overall program record is 1,479 wins and 1,243 losses for a win percentage of 54.3%.

2022 Key Stats

This season’s Saint Louis team is the quintessential “fair to midland” squad. Gone are recent stars Hasahn French and Jordan Goodwin. However, as stated above, Gibson Jimerson might just be the next individual star in the making. The question is does he have a proper supporting cast.

The great thing about this Saint Louis roster is that none of their top five scorers are “seniors.” Senior being in quotations because some players are receiving free seasons due to the pandemic and are not considered typical seniors.

This season’s team ranks in the ’70s in both adjusted offensive and defensive efficiency, and then it is a mixed bag in many other metrics. For instance, the Billikens are elite in offensive rebounding percentage at 36.2%, ranking 15th in the entire nation.

However, they rank 249th in the nation in two-point field goal percentage at 47.7%, which leads to a 5.7% second chance conversion rate which ranks 109th in the country.

Championships

The Billikens have never won an NCAA championship, but they have won seven regular-season conference championships. Their most recent title came in 2014 when Saint Louis won back-to-back regular-season championships under former head coach Jim Crews.

Saint Louis has also won a trio of conference tournament championships since the year 2000, which accounts for the only three tournament titles in program history. Each championship came under a different head coach as Lorenzo Romar, Jim Crews, and Travis Ford led their teams to the automatic postseason bid.

Saint Louis is also a fixture in the National Invitational Tournament, making 19 appearances in their history. They won the NIT in 1948 and placed second three times in 1961, 1989, and 1990.

Important Saint Louis Events

In 1947 the Saint Louis program hired Eddie Hickey. The program had some respectable seasons in their history, but they were a pretty poor program for the most part. Hickey went 24-3 overall and won the postseason NIT. He would go on to lead the program to a 212-89 record in 11 seasons.

On April 10th, 2008, the program opened a new 10,000+ seat arena on campus named the Chaifetz Arena. The Arena is known as “The Jewel of Midtown” in local circles.

Top Players in Program History

Without a shadow of a doubt, the best player in program history is forward Anthony Bonner. Bonner was a 6’8 forward and Saint Louis native that played for the Billikens from 1986 until 1990.

He averaged roughly 10 points and 9.6 rebounds per game as a freshman and never averaged fewer than 13.8 and 8.8 during the rest of his career.

Bonner would end his career with 1,972 points and is second all-time in the Horizon League in rebounds per game at 10.7 per game over his career.

His 45 points on March 1st, 1990 against Loyola (Ill) is still the greatest offensive output in program history. His four games of 20 or more rebounds are also the most in program history.

Larry Hughes is arguably the most talented player to ever play for Saint Louis. Hughes, also a Saint Louis native, played just one season for the Billikens and led them to the NCAA Tournament.

Hughes would lead the team in scoring during their first-round victory against UMass. Hughes holds the Saint Louis record for points in a season with 670.

Historical Coaches

The Billikens have made some fantastic hires throughout the history of their program. Some big names panned out, and some just didn’t make it happen during their time leading the program. The greatest to ever pace the sidelines has to be Rick Majerus.

Unfortunately for Saint Louis, Majerus was in poor health during his tenure, and longevity was not in the cards. A heart condition forced him from the sidelines after a 95-69 record leading the Billikens.

The previously mentioned Eddie Hickey is the program’s all-time wins leader with 211 victories, while Dan Savage is the program’s leader in winning percentage at 73.5%, though he only coached in 49 games in the early to mid-’20s.

Charlie Spoonhour is another in the successful line of coaches, leading the program to the NCAA Tournament three times in seven seasons. Those three births are the most in program history. Jim Crews is one of only two coaches in program history (Hickey) that has two.