2013 NCAA Tournament Profile: Atlantic 10 Champion Saint Louis Billikens

Record: 27-6

RPI: 20

BPI: 20

Conference: Atlantic 10 Conference

How They Qualified: Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament Champions

 

The Saint Louis Billikens were not always thought of as a NCAA Tournament quality team. In fact, thanks to some bad losses early on to teams like the Washington Huskies, many thought the Atlantic 10 was going to run through the usual suspects. But thanks to an undefeated December, the Billikens quickly became a force to be reckoned with.

As you can tell, leading rebounder and basket-maker Dwayne Evans does a lot for this team and is a force to be reckoned with. Saint Louis also features Kwamain Mitchell, a senior who scores a shade over 10 points per game and adds vital leadership to the team.

Thanks to beating a slew of NCAA Tournament quality teams, Saint Louis was a no-brainer as an at-large choice for the Selection Committee on Sunday.

 

What You Need to Know:

Leading Scorer: Dwayne Evans (12.9 ppg)

Leading Rebounder: Dwayne Evans (7.6 rpg)

Leading Passer: Jordair Jett (3.3 apg)

Bad Losses: Washington, Rhode Island

Good Wins: New Mexico, VCU, Butler (twice)

 

Jim Crews became the head coach for Saint Louis in the most tragic of ways. When Rick Majerus retired due to health concerns, the Billikens slabbed the interim tab on Crews and the rest feels like history. For those unaware of why you should care about Crews: He played on the last undefeated team in the history of college basketball, the 1976 Indiana Hoosiers.

Saint Louis doesn’t jump at you with stats, although, that doesn’t mean they are not effective. While middle-of-the-pack in almost every major offensive statistical category, the Billikens are extremely efficient from the field, making .45 percent of the buckets they take as a team.

Don’t end up sleeping on Saint Louis while filling out your brackets. They have already proven they can beat top-tier teams in the country with wins over the Butler Bulldogs, VCU Rams and New Mexico Lobos.

The Saint Louis Billikens are dancing!

 

Joe is a Senior Writer for Rant Sports. For the love of Sam Cassell, follow Joe on the mean streets of Twitter @JosephNardone and add him to your Google circle things.