Saint Louis in contention for first league title

Billikens have never finished higher than third in A-10 standings.

Saint Louis has never finished higher than a tie for third in the Atlantic 10 since joining the conference in 2005-06 and has mostly ended up in the bottom half of the league in four previous years under coach Rick Majerus.

But this season the Billikens are in title contention at 10-3, a half-game behind first-place Temple. They’ve won six straight games and are off until taking a trip to Rhode Island on Saturday.

Asked on Monday’s A-10 teleconference how important a league title would be for his program, Majerus gave a lengthy answer that strayed from the topic — something media members have come to expect from the longtime coach.

“I look at the world a different way, I guess. I think it’s more important to be in seventh place than eighth place. I just think it’s always important to do the best you can and to compete,” he said.

“We’ve signed two good players for next year. We’ve got two good freshmen who don’t play this year. I have a freshman (6- 11 John Manning) I guarantee will be an all-league player that I can’t get into a game. I don’t say that lightly. It’s tough to be an allleague player.

“When you talk about the importance of the program — I think it would be more important if guys all continued to do really well in school, and then it all takes care of itself.

“Obviously, who doesn’t want to win? So that’s really the only thing I’ve got to say about that.”

Majerus, who has won more than 500 games and led Utah to the NCAA title game, cut off a questioner who was asking about the talent level on the 22-5 Billikens compared to what he’s had in the past.

“We don’t have a guy on our team who is going to be a pro,” he said. “One of the NBA guys was there the other day and said, ‘I don’t know if you have an allleague guy on your team.’ But I’m really proud of the guys in that they’ve played better than the sum of their parts. ... We’re a gutit-out team.”

Dishing it out: Umass has the league’s leader in assists in sophomore Chaz Williams, who is averaging 6.2 per game. He transferred from Hofstra after making the all-freshman team in the Colonial Athletic Association.

The 5-foot-9 point guard leads

the team in scoring with a 15.5

Atlantic 10 standings

average. But he’s a bit turnover prone, averaging 3.5 per game.

“He’s still figuring out the league and the college game at this level,” said coach Derek Kellogg, whose team hosts Xavier tonight and visits Dayton on Saturday. “He’s got one more gear

and one more level to go.

“It’s a tough league. It’s a league that — until you’ve gone through it and see the different styles and different ways teams are trying to play you — can be a little overwhelming at times.”

Short trips: Temple, which has won 10 straight games, hits the road twice this week. Well, sort of.

The Owls play at La Salle and at Saint Joe’s but never have to leave Philadelphia. Still, coach Fran Dunphy expects inhospitable environments at both places.

“It will be a preponderance of La Salle and St. Joe’s people. We’ll get a share in there that will be cheering for us in those two games, but they will be certainly cheering more for the home team.

“That’s what happens in Philadelphia. It’s not only an Atlantic 10 game, it’s a Big Five game in both cases. … For years these teams have played against each other for the right to brag a little bit.”

Still hoping: Fordham is two games out of the last spot for the A-10 tourney (only 12 of 14 teams make the field). If the Rams don’t succeed, their road woes will be the reason.

They’re 1-12 away from home overall, 0-7 in the A-10, and coach Tom Pecora believes his players need to develop more maturity.

“It takes courage to grow up … and that’s not just the freshmen, but the veterans,” he said. Contact this reporter at (937) 2252125 or dharris@daytondaily News.com.