By JONAH BRONSTEIN Associated Press
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Dion Brown scored 18 points on 9-of-10 shooting, all on layups and dunks, and Saint Louis blew out Georgia 102-77 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday night.
Amari McCottry added 13 points and nine rebounds, while Robbie Avila had 12 points, five rebounds and five assists for the ninth-seeded Billikens in their first March Madness win since 2014.
“I thought we played super hard,” Saint Louis coach Josh Schertz said. “We were really physical. I thought we executed well, and I thought we were connected and together.”
Saint Louis (29-5) set a school record for victories in a season and advanced to meet Michigan, the Midwest Region’s top seed, on Saturday.
“Certainly a great win, and now we’ll get a chance to try to do it again,” Schertz said. “Play obviously I think the best team in the country on Saturday.”
Jeremiah Wilkinson scored 30 points for No. 8 seed Georgia. This was the most lopsided loss of the season for the Bulldogs (22-10), who had the most regular-season wins in program history.
“We weren’t very prepared to compete at the level that I thought we would,” Georgia coach Mike White said. “I did not see that coming.”
The Billikens shot 58% from the field and surpassed 100 points for the eighth time this season. On the other end, Saint Louis limited Georgia to 35% shooting with a suffocating defense that leads the country in opposing field goal percentage.
Attacking the basket
Saint Louis turned the game into a layup line, scoring 66 points in the paint. The Billikens bullied their way to 11 baskets in a row at the rim during a 23-0 run that began just before halftime and ballooned their lead to 67-32 with just over 15 minutes to play.
“We are an offense where if a guy drives, you better make that cut, and I made the cut,” Brown said. “Guys got me open. I was able to hit guys, find seams, and it just worked out in my favor today.”
Avila, a lumbering big man known for his outside shooting, excited the crowd with a spinning layup during a 12-0 run that put Saint Louis ahead 37-18 with 5:42 remaining in the first half.
“We were able to really pile on them early and kind of take their will away and really allow us to finish that game early,” Avila said.
Return to form
Saint Louis started the season 24-1 and was ranked in the AP Top 25 for seven weeks before stumbling to a 4-4 finish, including a loss in the Atlantic 10 Tournament semifinals.
“To come out here today and play Saint Louis basketball, it’s not surprising to us because we’ve been doing it,” Brown said. “But it’s refreshing to say, hey, we can still do this.”
Up next
Saint Louis will attempt to reach the Sweet 16 for the first time. The Billikens have played Michigan just once — in 1970.
___
AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness