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C-USA briefs

Compiled from Times wires

© St. Petersburg Times, published December 3, 2000

Defense, balance buoy Billikens

ST. LOUIS -- Matt Baniak and Chris Braun had 13 points each as Saint Louis beat Idaho 80-41 on Saturday.

Justin Tatum and Jason Edwin added 10 points each for the Billikens. Tatum had a game-high seven rebounds.

The Billikens' bench contributed 50 points and more than half their rebounds.

"That's the way it needs to be," Tatum said. "If we aren't getting what we need from the starters in the first five minutes, they know our bench is there to back them up. We're together as a team, and we're united."

The Billikens' aggressive man-to-man defense forced Idaho into 23 turnovers. The Vandals missed 19 of 24 shots in the first half and trailed 36-12 at halftime.

Matt Gerschefske, who led Idaho with 10 points, scored two early baskets to put his team in front 4-0. But Idaho missed 11 of its next 12 shots and Saint Louis converted those miscues into a 16-8 lead.

Braun scored seven points within 2:26 midway through the first half to push Saint Louis in front to stay 20-10. The Billikens went on a 16-0 run over the final 7:32 of the half.

Saint Louis put the game away with a 12-6 run early in the second half.

SMU 87, TULANE 58: Damon Hancock had 20 points and Quinton Ross 18 as the Mustangs won their fifth straight home opener.

All-American Jeryl Sasser had 11 points and 10 rebounds for Southern Methodist, which outshot the Green Wave 50.8 percent to 26.9 percent.

Ledaryl Billingsley had 19 points and 12 rebounds for Tulane, his fifth double double in six games. Brandon Brown had a career-high 15 rebounds and 11 points, and Brandon Spann had 15 points.

IOWA ST. 69, S. MISS 67: Jamaal Tinsley scored 15 of his 21 in the second half and sparked two big runs that lifted Iowa State in the championship game of the Cyclone Challenge.

The Cyclones rallied from an early 10-point deficit, recovered after letting an eight-point lead slip away, then held on for their 24th straight home victory despite missing four straight free throws in the final 36 seconds.

MARQUETTE 69, CS NORTHRIDGE 66: A tie-breaking free throw by Oluoma Nnamaka and two by Cordell Henry in the final 1:24 lifted the host Golden Eagles to the championship of the Blue and Gold Coca-Cola Classic.

Marquette held off the Matadors in the final moments of a second half that featured seven ties. The last was at 66 with 1:53 left on a three-point play by Northridge's John Burrell.

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