SIUC (8-7) played "scrappy and ugly," forcing host Saint Louis University (9-6) "out of their rhythm" before 13,000+ fans at the Kiel Center. The Billikens countered with their own style of outside shooting and good team play to hand the Salukis a disappointing 64-76 non-conference road loss.

The Salukis trailed at halftime 24-36 and were able to match the Billikens scoring output for the rest of the game. That type of progress earns any team a notch in the loss column. For the second straight game, SIU took 60+ shots, hitting just 19 field goals. Both teams were even at the free throw line (23 points each), but one of the key statistics may be the number of assists handed out by Saluki players. SIU had 5 total assists (from 4 players) compared with 17 assists (from 9 players) by the host Billikens. Although the numbers were favorable to SIU in other catagories, one of SIU's problems concerns poor shot selection, which in part results from inexperience, defensive pressure and the level of athletic talent.