Their fan board has a lot of talk about how bad they played the last time, they know what to expect, and they are extremely confident about winning...at least by 4 points.

Put your cash on SLU -5, and then buy your wife or girlfriend something special for Valetine's Day with the winnings.   
Saturday is more interesting to me, SBU game is at RMU.   Must win game.   Hughes will need to be at his best.

1111 Vickroy wrote:

Obviously want a win but i agree about Saturday. St. B gave us fits last year. I remember their one big man had around 15 rebounds at palumbo in a low scoring slug fest

Agree with the last two posts. We're playing with house money tonight, as this game's been marked down as a loss on most people's schedules. A win would offset the UMass loss, and put us back on track for an NIT bid, but a loss won't kill us. Bona is a must win though. We need to win the last four home games to have a shot at the NIT. If we do that, and steal one of the tough road games, we'll be a lock. We'd need to go 7-2 at the least, and then get on a roll in Brooklyn to have a chance at the NCAAs.
 

I think it’s pretty much the consensus that the Dukes are a  L. O.  N. G.  Shot to win.  LIke everyone else, I want them to win also, but from the last three weeks, we aren’t there as a team to beat a good team twice with the second game being on their home turf after we beat them the first time.   Hughes, don’t get another frickin’ technical.
Go Dukes!

Ironduke81 wrote:

Good read St. Louis dispatch on game. SLU plans to attack the Dukes. Travis Ford quoted as adjusting due to the failures in the first game in Pittsburgh. Hope Coach Dambrot can readjust to keep it close if not a road win. Go Dukes

https://www.stltoday.com/sports/college/slu/slu-opens-a--revenge-tour-with-duquesne-rematch/article_c228c2e7-b4a2-5c34-8dae-4c0846ce9339.html
 

Its going to get chippy n the Dukes have to hold their ground. Recall the brutal pick Baylee Steele laid on one of their players near mid-court.

DennisC91 wrote:

Phoenix, I love your game previews, but St. Louis has a very clear and significant offensive weakness: they're dead-last in the NCAA in free-throw percentage!

That is absolutely true, DennisC91.  It might be the single area that is holding Saint Louis back from a top 4 A10 finish.
BTW, those raw stats (3PT%, 2PT%, FT%, MidRange, etc.) are included in the Haslametrics Automated game preview that is linked.

townsonkid wrote:

Thats also a reason to get Ellis and Rotroff in there tonight, let them hack French all night, and dont foul and give up an and-1 either.   Make them make 2 from the line.   When they likely dont, we in that trip down the court.

An excellent point about hacking the St Louie bigs. I was surprised we didn't use that strategy during the last home game with them. Hell, I'd have all semi-used bench players lined-up to come into play for that purpose (Note: that is tongue-in-cheek) But I do believe townsonkid has a legitimate point about fouling their big(s). It would certainly help level their home-court advantage.
 
 

duq81 wrote:

I'm nervously hopeful at halftime!!! No repeat of Rhody please .

Rhody was 1st thing on my mind at the half. Keep feeding Weathers until they stop it.

Fought off 2 runs by SLU. Hope they don't have another one in them.

Lots of pessimism here pre-game. Didn't want to counter due to superstition. Now that it's decided, I hope nobody bet St Louis and gave away 5 points.

What a great win!

OMG! Who woulda thunk it. Excellent job of coaching.  Let’s beat the Bonnies.
Marcus was a beast.