Defensive-minded No. 18 Saint Louis lugs win streak to Loyola Chicago

For Josh Schertz and No. 18 Saint Louis, offensive performance starts with the effort provided on the defensive end.

The Billikens, riding a 17-game winning streak, will look to remain sharp on defense when they travel to face Loyola Chicago on Friday.

Saint Louis (23-1, 11-0 Atlantic 10) turned up the intensity in the second half of a resounding 82-58 home win over La Salle on Saturday. The Ramblers (6-19, 2-10) are coming off an 84-64 defeat at Davidson on Feb. 6.

After a sluggish first half in which they hit just 3 of 10 3-point attempts and led 31-27, Saint Louis heated up coming out of the locker room. The result: The Billikens converted 10 of 20 shot attempts from 3-point range in the second half and pulled away.

Sixth man Ishan Sharma continued his hot shooting streak. He led the Billikens with 15 points and drained 5 of 9 3-point attempts. Sharma is one of four Billikens shooting better than 40.0% from long range. Quentin Jones and Amari McCottry added 13 points apiece, and Dion Brown chipped in 12 points.

However, Schertz believes it's the defense that allows the Billikens to get on the run. Saint Louis ranks fourth nationally with 18.67 fastbreak points per game. The Billikens are first in the country in field-goal-percentage defense at 36.3%. On the other end of the floor, Saint Louis rates third in effective field-goal percentage at 61.3%.

It all adds up to a team chasing down the school record 19-game winning streak set in the 2013-14 season.

"When you play good defense that allows you usually to play into transition on offense," Schertz said, "because you are getting a stop and a rebound. When you play good offense and score or take a good shot, it allows you to set your defense. Then your defense is better. So it's always the complementary phases. It's very hard to be good at offense if you are bad at defense because you are always taking the ball out of the net and going against a set defense.

"Basketball is the most fluid game in terms of how intertwined the two sides of the floor are. When we make our runs, it usually starts with stops. Then we get stops and clean rebounds and get out into transition and run."

Five Billikens average double-figure scoring, led by Robbie Avila at 12.8 points per game. The senior center also leads Saint Louis with 4.3 assists per contest.

"Robbie is so good in the two-man game with (Sharma) and Brady (Dunlap)," Schertz said. "Robbie is so good at unlocking those guys because he is a hard cover. And those guys (are threats) with their movement and shooting."

Meanwhile, Loyola Chicago has battled injuries throughout a forgettable season. Miles Rubin was the only Ramblers player to score in double digits against Davidson, finishing with a game-high 17 points on 8-of-11 shooting.

The junior center also pulled down seven rebounds. Miles, a Chicago product, is the Ramblers' second-leading scorer (11 points per game) and leading rebounder (7.6 rpg). Loyola's leading scorer, Justin Moore (11.4 ppg), was held to just four points in 24 minutes at Davidson.

Loyola went 0-9 in January. After it notched its first win of the new year against La Salle, 71-61 on Feb. 3, the Ramblers again struggled to find their way.

"I think our guys did a good job from a mentality standpoint of still doing whatever they could to compete," Loyola coach Drew Valentine said following the latest loss. "Those guys walking into the arena today, they didn't think they were going to do that. I commend our guys for doing that. I commend our guys for fighting."