St. Louis Series History: Louisville knocked off St. Louis in 20 consecutive games dating from Feb.3, 1973 to Jan. 24, 1996.

Series History

All-Time Record: Louisville 44, St. Louis 20
*C-USA Tournament
+Metro Tournament
#MVC Playoff (Peoria, IL)
@Bluegrass Invitational (Louisville, KY)

Date: March 3, 2004	Score: Louisville 75, St. Louis 48
Leading Scorers: U of L: Francisco Garcia (17) St. Louis: Reggie Bryant (15)
For the first time since 1996, the Louisville Cardinals were victorious on the road against the St. Louis Billikens. Determined to keep the momentum going from their win over Memphis, the Cards thrashed SLU, and all but sealed an NCAA tourney bid. Three straight SLU turnovers led to five U of L points as the game opened, and U of L built an early 8-3 lead. After back-to-back steals by Brandon Jenkins, the Cards' lead grew to 20-8. Down 20-10 with 7:50 left in the half, SLU got only more field goal before halftime, at which point they trailed U of L 40-19.
The Cards received fantastic post play, with Kendall Dartez scoring 12 points and pulling down a career-high 11 rebounds, while Otis George had 13 points and six rebounds. The Cards had been outrebounded in five straight games, but won the battle of the boards against SLU 36-26, and outscored the Billikens 30-8 in the paint. St. Louis also committed 20 turnovers, compared to only nine for the Cards, and U of L was able to score 27 points off of Billiken turnovers. The Cards had a total of 11 steals, with four by Larry O'Bannon. Despite shooting a woeful 1-11 from three-point range, Francisco Garcia led U of L with 17 points and six assists, and also had five rebounds. Taquan Dean looked as good as he has since his groin injury, making 3-6 shots to finish with seven points in 19 minutes of action. Pitino finally called off the full-court press with U of L up 69-39 with 6:58 remaining. The Cards led 75-39 with 4:26, then went scoreless in their last six possessions. It was SLU's second-worst loss ever at the Savvis Center, and matched their worst C-USA loss. St. Louis shot only 34.9% for the game. Reserve center Nouha Diakite left the Cardinal squad a day before the game to pursue a professional career in France.

Date: February 12, 2003	Score: St. Louis 59, Louisville 58
Leading Scorers: U of L: Reece Gaines (28) St. Louis: Marque Perry (25)
One streak has ended: U of L's 17-game winning streak, as the Cards failed to match their longest winning streak in school history. Another streak continued: U of L has still not won at St. Louis since 1996. The Billikens gave the Cardinals their first conference loss of the year, and again confounded U of L by forcing the Cards into a slow-tempo, half-court contest. Reece Gaines showed up for U of L, as he scored 28 points -- and 20 of U of L's 31 second-half points -- but no one else did for the Cards, as no other Cardinal finished in double figures. As the game began, it looked like U of L might end their road woes against St. Louis. Francisco Garcia scored the game's first five points (then didn't score agains) as U of L opened up an early 9-0 lead. SLU was 0-5 from the field and had been outrebounded 7-1 at that point, but quickly turned things around.
After converting on two free throws after an intentional foul on Marvin Stone (who did not score in the game but had seven rebounds) and then a three-pointer, St. Louis had made its way back into the game to stay. St. Louis took its first lead of the game at 12-11 at the 12:40 mark of the first half, and a three-pointer at the buzzer gave the Billikens a 30-27 halftime lead. Neither team had led by more than six until Ellis Myles hit a pair of free throws and Gaines hit a three-pointer to put U of L up 57-50 with 1:58 left. At that point, SLU had not scored a field goal in more than six minutes, but they closed the game with a 9-1 run. Perry hit a jumper with 1:15 left, then a steal and breakaway dunk by Chris Sloan cut U of L's lead to 57-54 with just 50.8 seconds left. The two teams traded turnovers before Gaines tracked down a long pass against the St. Louis press before being fouled by Perry. Gaines hit one of two free throws to put U of L up 58-54 with 24.4 seconds left. Perry then drove the lane and converted on a three-point play after being fouled by Luke Whitehead to cut SLU's deficit to 58-57 with 13.2 seconds left.
Whitehead tried to inbounds the ball against the press, but his pass was deflected by Perry and picked up by St. Louis. Perry got the ball back, drove the lane again, and hit from close range to put SLU up 59-58 with 3.2 seconds left. After a U of L timeout, Gaines missed on a long shot from just inside midcourt to end the Cardinal winning streak. It was the lowest point total for U of L so far this season. SLU scored 26 points off of 15 Cardinal turnovers, while the Cards scored only two points off eight St. Louis turnovers; for the game, U of L did not even have a single steal while St. Louis had nine. SLU grabbed 14 offensive rebounds to the Cards' seven, and had a 13-5 edge in second-chance points.

Date: January 11, 2003	Score: Louisville 73, St. Louis 54
Leading Scorers: U of L: Reece Gaines (23) St. Louis: Anthony Drejaj (16)
The Cards finally end their losing to St. Louis, but not before another serious scare prior to erasing a double digit deficit for the fifth time this season. SLU opened up its biggest lead at 19-6, with U of L opening up by hitting only one field goal in the first ten minutes and only five in the first half alone. U of L missed 12 of its first 15 shots. But when the Billikens leading scorer, Marque Perry, picked up his second foul and exited the game at 8:22 in the first half with SLU up 21-10, the Cards were able to wake up and even the contest -- holding SLU without a basket for the remainder of the period, at the end of which SLU led 26-24.
Reece Gaines, who led all scorers with 23 points but was only 1-7 in the first half, made all seven of his shots in the second half, most all on pull-up jumpers. U of L had a decisive 21-5 run after the game was tied at 35 with about 14 minutes left. Gaines had 10 points in six minutes, as U of L picked up its defense -- a second half staple for this Cardinal squad -- and started forcing SLU turnovers. Although he scored only five points, Taquan Dean contributed defensively by shutting down Perry, who finished with only seven points. Dean had a solid all-around game by pulling down six rebounds and dishing out six assists. Speaking of defense, the Cards have now held seven straight opponents below 40% shooting from the field. Also contributing to U of L's win was Marvin Stone, who had 10 points and six rebounds, and Francisco Garcia, who had 13 points. Guard Prileu Davis started for U of L, but played only five minutes.

Date: February 22, 2002	Score: St. Louis 56, Louisville 50
Leading Scorers: U of L: Reece Gaines (29) St. Louis: Marque Perry (16)
They did it again. St. Louis clamped down on the Cards defensively, overplayed our perimeter players, and forced U of L to score on the inside. Well, in matching their season low point total of the season, the Cards were barely doing any scoring. St. Louis, which has now beaten the Cards four times in a row, and five straight times at the Savvis Center (the Cardinals' longest such drought in C-USA right now), didn't play championship-caliber basketball either. In fact, in the second half, they had seven field goals and 12 turnovers. Combined, U of L and St. Louis committed 33 turnovers -- the number of field goals scored by both teams. And in a game that ugly, that slow, the Cards don't have a chance. Or do they? Again, it seemed the Cardinals would complete a comeback and secure a victory. And again, the fans hopes were quashed, and left with that sinking feeling in your gut that leaves you thinking about next season already.
The first half was the Cards worst of the season. Reece Gaines, who led all scorers with 29 points and also scored more than 50% of the Cards' points against the Billikens for the second time this season, hit a three-pointer to pull U of L within 10-7 with 13:47 left in the first half. From that point on, U of L missed 10 straight shots -- another of their patented droughts. The Cards scored only 10 more points in the period, three baskets by Gaines and a lay-up from Alhaji Mohammed. The Cards' 29-17 halftime deficit was their second-largest of the year; they were down 18 at the half against Oregon in the second game of the year. (Think about it: we trailed more at the half in this game against SLU than at Kentucky or at Cincinnati. Amazing.) The Cards were able to pick up the tempo a bit in the second half, though. The Billikens' lead was 14 shortly after halftime, but with 6:48 left the Cards were within 44-41. At that point, SLU's Jason Edwin hit back-to-back three-pointers, but the Cards didn't fold.
Down 50-41 with 4:43 left, the Cards got a lift from Reece Gaines, who scored, then scored again on a lay-up off of a steal produced by the Cardinals' press. Erik Brown missed the front end of a one-and-one which would have pulled the Cards closer, but instead the Cards committed a foul. Josh Fisher made the first attempt, then corralled the long rebound after he missed the second. Marque Perry, who scored 20 in the first game and led SLU again with 16 points (though he was held to 5-16 shooting), drove the lane, was fouled and made both free throws to put SLU up 53-45. A Bryant Northern three-pointer (he was the only other Card in double-figures, finishing with 10) pulled U of L to within 53-48 with 52.2 second remaining. The Cards hopes were alive after they forced a turnover, but Gaines missed a three-point attempt. U of L got the rebound though, and on the next possession Gaiens was fouled and hit both free throws to pull the Cards within 53-50 with 27.5 seconds left. The Cards then fouled, and SLU made one of two attempts. After Gaines missed a shot under heavy pressure, St. Louis rebounded, was fouled, made both shots, and sealed the game.

Date: February 5, 2002	Score: St. Louis 67, Louisville 64
Leading Scorers: U of L: Reece Gaines (37) St. Louis: Marque Perry (20)
What a disappointment. The Cards come off of what could have been a momentum-building win, but instead suffocate under the tight defense of St. Louis, and drop their third straight game to the Billikens. It was truly a one-man show for U of L against St. Louis. Reece Gaines scored a career-high for the second straight game, totalling 37 points. It was the most points in a single game by a Cardinal player since Wes Unseld scored 45 points against Georgetown College on December 1, 1967. All told, Gaines' performance puts him in a tie for sixth place for U of L's single game scoring record (Phil Rollins scored 37 for the Cards against Eastern Kentucky on December 29, 1955). But despite the personal achievement, Gaines was left in tears after the game, still stinging from what is U of L's toughest loss of the season to date. St. Louis came into the game 9-13 and only 3-6 in C-USA play, but the Cards couldn't get it done.
The key for St. Louis, which won its first road game of the season, was to control the tempo, which they did for most of the game, just not the beginning. The Cards got off to a great start, making seven of their first 11 shots to take a 16-10 lead. U of L was up 25-19 with 8:33 left in the first half when the Billikens started slowing the game down. Playing tougher defense and scoring at will on easy, inside shots, St. Louis held the Cards without a field goal for the final 6:15 of the first half and outscored U of L 10-3 in that time span to build a 34-30 halftime lead. After a back-door dunk by Gaines to open the second half pulled Louisville to within two, St. Louis went on another big run. Fueled by Cardinal turnovers on each of their next five possessions, SLU went on a 12-5 run to take its biggest lead of the game at 46-37. But then the Cards dug down and showed the kind of grit that the fans have come to love about this team--unfortunately, it didn't last long enough. Ellis Myles scored five straight points for U of L, then Reece Gaines started his impressive tear. The Cardinal guard scored U of L's next 12 points, and after a lay-up by Myles, U of L had completed a 19-5 run to turn a nine-point deficit into a 56-51 lead with 7:52 left in the game.
Like they had in their only other home loss this season (to Marquette), the Cards had a lead with three minutes left. Turnovers and poor execution cost the Cards the game though. Up 63-60, U of L saw Marque Perry, who led St. Louis with 20 points, including 10-13 from the line, drive to the hoop and draw a foul and make two of his 10 free throws to pull the Billikens within one. The Cards then misfired on their next possession, while St. Louis made one of two free throws to tie the game at 63. A Cardinal turnover was followed by a lay-up by SLU's Kenny Brown, who was the other Billiken to finish in double-figures, scoring 13 points with six rebounds. After Brown's lay-up, SLU led 65-63 with 1:14 left. Gaines made one of two free throws to pull the Cards within one, but on the next St. Louis possession, the Cards were unable to set a trap on Brown, who scored underneath with ease to put SLU ahead 67-64 with 23 seconds remaining. Gaines missed a tough three the next time down for the Cards, and after Brown missed two free throws, Gaines again was unable to hit on another long three, and time ran out. Although Gaines couldn't connect in the final minute, he kept U of L in the game all by himself: he was the only Cardinal to score in the last seven minutes of the game. Gaines scored 25 of U of L's 34 second-half points, and made nine of U of L's 11 second-half field goals. He was also 6-11 from three-point range. Amazingly, the Cards outrebounded St. Louis 35-23, but U of L's 21 turnovers were fatal to the Cards' chances.

Game Summary: St. Louis	Score: St. Louis 72, Louisville 51
Leading Scorers: U of L: Marques Maybin (20) St. Louis: Maurice Jeffers, Matt Baniak, Marque Perry (13)
Poof! Just like that, the momentum and positive energy surrounding the Cards disappeared against St. Louis, as the Cards not only lost their second game in a row, but got trounced badly in not even looking like they knew how to run their offense. The Cards were dominated, and facts and figures on this season are starting to confirm this as the worst Cardinal year ever.
U of L didn't score its first field goal until five and half minutes into the game, but the Cards were still in it, trailing only 7-4. But their offensive woes continued throughout the half, and even the game (the Cards shot only 32% from the field). With 3:50 left in the opening period, the Cards trailed 25-16, but a 9-2 run helped pull the Cards to within 27-25 at the half. After an Erik Brown jumper pulled U of L to within 31-29 with 17:41 to play, the Cards went on another of their notorious droughts, scoring only field goal in the next 7:05 as the Billikens built their lead to 10. Marques Maybin, who led all scorers with 20 points and was the only Cardinal in double figures (though he shot a woeful 7-23 from the field) scored U of L's next 13 points, and the Cards were still in striking distance, down 49-42. One look at the final score, though, will tell you it was St. Louis who struck, and they did it with defense. They used a stifling man-to-man defense that forced the Cards into another 3 and a half minute drought, as SLU pounded the ball inside on the other end of the court. The Billikens scored 16 of their final 20 points from the free throw line, and outscored U of L from the line 27-12. SLU scored only nine field goals in the second half.
The Cards shot only 3-18 from three-point range, and amazingly, outrebounded SLU 35-32 (Joseph N'Sima had 10 rebounds, plus four blocked shots, for U of L.) Before this season, U of L had lost only four home games by 20 points or more in the last eight years. This loss marked the fourth such defeat this season. One more loss by this squad eliminates the possibility of having a winning record, but we guess that was a foregone conclusion. Furthermore, with five conference losses, despite the parity in C-USA this year, any chances of doing something special in the conference have now evaporated.

Game Summary: St. Louis	Score: St. Louis 71, Louisville 61
Leading Scorers: U of L: Marques Maybin (22) St. Louis: Maurice Jeffers (27)
Well, we should have known that this U of L team would not have been able to respond after their fantastic effort against UK (and keep in mind even that fantastic effort wound up in a loss). The Cards got brutalized in the paint, with St. Louis scoring only one, that's right, only field goal, outside of the lane. All of St. Louis's points came from inside the paint or the free throw line, where the Billikens finished 29-37. By contrast, U of L was only 10-16 from the line. SLU coach Lorenzo Romar said after the game that his team was tired after returning from the Rainbow Classic in Hawaii. Yet his squad got layup after layup, dunk after dunk, against a Cardinal team unable to provide any resistance from its frontcourt. SLU had seven dunks yesterday; they had had 21 all season up to this point. How does a team who is jetlagged run circles and embarrass U of L?
SLU shot 14-21 from the field in the first half, as it built a 36-30 halftime lead, then went on to shoot 21-27 from the line in the second period. After St. Louis opened the second period with a 9-2 run, Reece Gaines brought U of L back. He hit a six-footer, a three-pointer, another three-pointer, and just like that the Cards were back in it, trailing 48-40. Two more field goals by Gaines pulled the Cards within four, but two alley-oop baskets by Maurice Jeffers--on the same play--ended U of L's run and the Cards got no closer. A Marques Maybin jumper with 9:47 left pulled the Cards to wihin 53-49, but U of L did not score a field goal in the next 8:07 as SLU built a 67-55 lead to seal the game. Maybin and Gaines combined for 27 of U of L's 31 second-half points. Together, they were 14-31 from the field while the rest of the team was only 8-24. It's indicative of a lack of an inside game on both the offensive and defensive ends. Gaines finished with 17 points, and Maybin led the Cards with 22. All told, U of L shot 7-14 from three-point range, which kept them in the game in the first half, but it wasn't enough. The Cards were outrebounded 35-22, and are last in C-USA in rebounding.
U of L played a 3-2 zone, which kept St. Louis from scoring from the outside, but not on the inside. Guard Jeffers scored 27 points, mostly from the line, where he went 15-17 on drive after drive to the hoop. 6-11 center Chris Heinrich nearly doubled his average to finish with 11 points for the Billikens.

Game Preview: St. Louis	Date: Jan. 6, 2001
Site: St. Louis, MO	Records: U of L: 4-9, 0-0; St. Louis: 8-6, 0-1
Yet again this season, the Cards, depsite a terrible won-loss record, have reason to hope as they enter another game. If somehow the Cards can show the same effort and intensity they displayed against UK, the Cards might be able to make something of the fresh start the opening of conference play provides. Of course, that is probably the biggest 'if' one could find for this Cardinal squad. The team seems energized after the seven hour gripe session on New Year's Eve, and their subsequent effort against the Wildcats. The question of the day is how well the Cardinals can keep that feeling going, especially on the road and against teams who aren't U of L's number one rival.
If recent history has anything to say about it, this game against St. Louis could be problematic for U of L. The home team has won the past six meetings of the series, including SLU's 52-48 victory in St. Louis last year. A low-scoring, half-court battle is exactly the type of game the Cards don't want. SLU is 8-6 and lost their conference opener to DePaul, so they stand at 0-1 in conference play. SLU started the season at 5-1, then suffered losses to Missouri, Dayton and DePaul. The Billikens are coming off a 76-62 win over St. Bonaventure on Wednesday, and are led by 6-4 senior Maurice Jeffers, who averages 14.6 ppg, 5.3 rpg and 2.4 apg.

Game Summary: St. Louis	Score: St. Louis 52, Louisville 48
Leading Scorers: U of L: Marques Maybin (14) St. Louis: Justin Love (21)
Louisville's troubles on the road continue, and now U of L faces a real uphill challenge the rest of the season. The loss to St. Louis leaves U of L with only an 11-8 overall record and firmly in last place in C-USA's American Division at a record of 3-5. If U of L doesn't turn it around quickly, the Cards will be forced to turn in a miracle at the conference tournament just to make post-season play. In yesterday's game, everyone contributed to a sloppy, ugly game that was a defensive struggle throughout. Having arguably his worst game of the season since the opener at VCU, point guard Reece Gaines finished 1-6 from the field for only two points to go along with six turnovers. He also missed a shot with 10 seconds left that would have tied the game.
Again, the Cards found a special way to lose. What hurt them the most was their poor free throw shooting, finishing the day at 10-18 for 56%. The Cards had been shooting 71% from the line going into the game. U of L missed seven of 10 free throws in the last eight minutes, including five of six in the last four minutes. Maybin missed two of those, while senior Nate Johnson missed three. St. Louis, on the other hand, hit 11-12 from the line in the last six minutes, including four by Justin Love that broke a 48-48 tie with 41 seconds left. He hit two at that point after being fouled by Tobiah Hopper, then hit two more to seal the game after Gaines's miss. The Billikens finished 17-21 from the line, scoring more free throws than field goals 17-14. In a game of defensive intensity, U of L held St. Louis to 33.3% field goal shooting, including 1-12 from three-point range, and forced 19 turnovers. But U of L was just as bad from the offensive end. They finished at 36.2% from the field, and committed 25 turnovers, one shy of a season high. It was their lowest point total since scoring 46 against UK.
U of L had led 18-8 at one point in the first half, but St. Louis then scored 13 straight before the Cards got a goaltending call to go into the half down 21-20. In the first half, U of L went stretches of six and eight minutes without scoring. SLU pulled ahead by five in the second half, but a Maybin dunk tied the game at 48 with 2:41 left. Each team had only field goal in the final five mintues. Justin Tatum had 15 point and 11 rebounds for the Billikens, and also hit 5-6 free throws down the stretch (he entered the game a 54% free throw shooter). Besides Maybin, only Johnson scored in double-figures for U of L with 12 points on 4-13 shooting to go along with four steals. Both Tony Williams and Hopper finished with seven points.

Game Preview: St. Louis	Date: Jan. 29, 2000
Site: St. Louis, MO	Records: U of L: 11-7, 3-4; St. Louis: 11-7, 3-3
The Cards have now lost four out of their last five games, and remain winless on an opponent's home floor in a non-tournament game. Although the loss to Cincinnati on Thursday proved the Cards can play tough, it's now time to start collecting some wins. Currently, U of L is last in C-USA's American Division, and is bordering right now on not making the NCAA tournament. There is still plenty of time to turn the ship around, but U of L really does need to be going all out now in order to improve its record and get on a roll. The task starts today at St. Louis, who like the Cards are 9-2 at home but have been inconsistent throughout the season. SLU has wins over Missouri and Dayton, and a close loss to Kansas, but also dropped games to Louisiana Tech, Southwest Missouri State and Kansas State. In conference play, the Billikens have an impressive win at DePaul and being spanked by the Blue Demons 56-38 earlier on, and also have a win against Marquette.
The Billikens are led by first-year coach Lorenzo Romar. Their best player so far has been Justin Love, who is averaging an impresive 18.1 ppg and 41% from three-point range. After their losses to UNC-Charlotte and Cincinnati, the Cards must improve their perimeter defense: those two teams combined for 23 three-pointers against U of L. At 10.1 points a game, Justin Tatum is the only other SLU player in double-figures. For the Cards, Nate Johnson broke out of his spell to score 19 against the Bearcats. The Cards will need scoring from everybody to get a win streak again. They haven't hit their magical 80 point total since their win over Tulane on Jan. 3. For U of L, Tony Williams is the leading scorer at 15.8 a game, followed by Nate Johnson at 14.2 and Marques Maybin at 13.5. Reece Gaines is almost in double-figures at 9.2 ppg, and has two more assists on the season than turnovers. Inside, Dion Edward leads the Cards in both rebounding (7.3 rpg) and blocks (27).

Game Summary: St. Louis	Score: Louisville 68, St. Louis 56
Leading Scorers: U of L: Marques Maybin (28) St. Louis: Justin Love, Justin Tatum (15)
Once again the St. Louis Billikens drew the U of L Cardinals into an ugly, uninspiring game. But this time around, U of L kept its composure, made its free throws and received another sparkling performance from Marques Maybin to avenge their third loss so far this year. Maybin set his second career-high in four games, scoring 28 points on 8-14 shooting from the field and 12-13 from the line. During the game, Maybin became U of L's 51st 1,000 point-scorer in school history. The Cards have now won six straight, and are in the driver's seat to claim second place in C-USA's American Division. After being in last place at 3-5 in the division, the Cards are now 8-5, limiting each conference opponent in their current streak to under 40% field goal shooting. SLU shot only 36% from the field and compounded their scoring woes by making only 13-25 from the line.
Just how much of a key is Marques Maybin to U of L's success? In U of L's six-game winning streak, he is shooting 57% from the field and averaging 20 points a game. For the year, U of L is 16-2 when Maybin scores in double-figures. The Billikens were led by Justin Love and Justin Tatum, who each scored 15, while Marque Perry finished with 10. Perry left the game with a dislocated ankle midway through the second half, and may be out the remainder of the season. 16 SLU turnovers led to 20 U of L points, and although St. Louis outrebounded U of L 37-34, the Cards had more second-chance points, 25-15. U of L led by as many as nine in the first half, when SLU shot only 39% and made 11 turnovers to lead to 14 U of L points. The Cards let at the half 37-29. With 13 minutes left, U of L held a 51-41 lead, but a 10-3 SLU run cut the lead to 54-51 with 8 minutes remaining. A field goal by Tony Wiliams, who struggled in the game with six turnovers, and two free throws by Nate Johnson, pushed the lead back to seven, and the Billikens did not threaten the rest of the way. The Cards have won each of the six games in their current winning streak by double-digit margins.

Game Preview: St. Louis	Date: Feb. 23, 2000
Site: Freedom Hall	Records: U of L: 16-9, 7-5, St. Louis: 14-10, 6-6
In the last week and a half, U of L has exacted revenge on both Marquette and UNC-Charlotte for defeats earlier in the season. They get a third shot at revenge Wednesday night in Freedom Hall as they try to erase the ugly loss to St. Louis that U of L could have won had not their free-throw shooting been so horrendous. Plus, it's been awhile since the Cards have been held to 48 points, and seeing as how SLU has lost three of its last four games, the Billikens are ripe for another hurting. Justin Love, who tore up the Cards in their first meeting, continues to lead the team in scoring and is the only SLU player averaging in double-figures at 19.1. Justin Tatum is averaging 8.9 ppg and 6.8 rpg.
The Cards' have held five straight conference opponents to under 40% shooting. For U of L these days, Tony Williams continues to lead the squad in scoring with an even 15 points a game, but Marques Maybin is closing the gap at 14.3. Nate Johnson is at 13 ppg, while guard Reece Gaines inches closer to double-figures with 9.4 ppg. Dion Edward still holds the lead in rebounding on the team at 7.3 a game, though Tony Williams is close at 6.6 rpg. Edward also has 40 blocks on the year, more than double Nate Johnson's 19. Positively, the race for team leader in assists is very tight. Reece Gaines holds the advantage with 78 on the season, but Nate Johnson has 76 and Tony Williams 75.