2/9/10: Majerus rants about A-10 after SLU tops St. Joe’s
Bills want to go home
By Aaron Bracy
SPECIAL TO THE POST-DISPATCH
Wednesday, Feb. 10 2010
PHILADELPHIA — St. Louis U. rallied for its biggest comeback victory of the
season in a 56-52 win over St. Joseph’s on Tuesday night, but coach Rick
Majerus cared less about the gutty results on a two-game Philadelphia swing
that began last Thursday than about how long his team has been away from home.
The outspoken Billikens coach, often previously critical of his team’s
alignment with the Atlantic 10 Conference, blasted SLU’s affiliation with the
A-10 — and his own school in the process — in his strongest comments to date.
“The answer is, first, get the hell out of the league,” a calm but clearly
annoyed Majerus said afterward. “Most successful people in life make mistakes
and say, ‘You know what, I made a mistake and I’m not going to let that happen
again.’ So, the school is afraid to say they made a mistake, that’s all.”
Majerus’ contention isn’t with the A-10, which he called a “good league, with
great venues and really great players,” rather with SLU’s place in it. His beef
is that the Billikens (15-8, 6-3 A-10), in their fifth season in the A-10, are
missing too much class time. And, with the second major snowstorm in four days
hitting Philadelphia on Tuesday night, SLU’s long trip probably will continue.
St. Louis didn’t expect to depart this morning for home as scheduled and might
not leave until Friday.
“I would rather have lost both games,” said Majerus, who earlier this season
said the Missouri Valley Conference would be a better fit for SLU. “Nothing
means more to me than the academic success of our players. We have compromised
our players’ academic success and we have put them behind a big 8-ball. Even if
it was the best of weather, we’re missing an entire week of school.”
While Majerus took little solace, at least outwardly, in the victory, it was a
strong road performance by the Billikens.
Just as they did in Saturday’s 68-65 win over La Salle, the Billikens fell
behind by double digits in the first half against St. Joe’s (9-15, 3-7),
trailing by as many as 12 points late in the period. But SLU clamped down on
defense and turned up its offense after halftime, erasing a 35-26 deficit early
in the second half with a 12-2 run. It was capped by Kyle Cassity’s 3-pointer
from the top of the key as SLU took its first lead, 38-37, 5:35 into the second
period.
The Billikens maintained control for most of the next 10 minutes before Cody
Ellis, who led SLU with 13 points, hit a key 10-foot jumper to make it 53-46
SLU with 3:46 left. Then, suddenly, the Billikens went cold, going 0 for three
on their next three possessions. Luckily for them, the Hawks were nearly as
inept during the crucial period, going two for five, and SLU still led 53-50
with 33 seconds left when Christian Salecich, strangely, was intentionally
fouled by the Hawks. The Australian, a 77 percent free-throw shooter, calmly
made both foul shots to put the game away.
Salecich, in the starting lineup for the first time in six games, finished with
11 points.
