{"id":16463,"date":"2026-01-10T16:43:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-10T16:43:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/?p=16463"},"modified":"2026-01-10T16:43:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-10T16:43:11","slug":"bills-hold-off-vcu-for-first-win-at-siegel-center","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/?p=16463","title":{"rendered":"Bills Hold Off VCU for First Win at Siegel Center"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<aside class=\"sidearm-story-template-text-aside\" aria-label=\"Related Sport Links\">&#013;<br \/>\n                        &#013;<br \/>\n&#013;<\/p>\n<div class=\"sidearm-story-template-next-game hide-on-small-down\">\n<div class=\"postgame_1-2_nextgame\">\n<div class=\"sidearm-story-template-next-game-details\">\n<div class=\"sidearm-story-template-next-game-logo\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"sidearm-story-template-next-game-opponent\">\n<h2>Next Game:<\/h2>\n<p>                at La Salle<br \/>\n                1\/10\/2026 | 3 pm<\/p>\n<p>                    &#013;<br \/>\n                        USA Network  &#013;<\/p>\n<p>                    &#013;<br \/>\n                        104.1 FM \/ 1120 AM KMOX&#013;<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"postgame_3_nextgame\">\n<div class=\"sidearm-story-template-next-game-primary\">\n<div class=\"sidearm-story-template-next-game-details\">\n                &#013;<br \/>\n                    Jan. 10 (Sat) \/ 3 pm&#013;<\/p>\n<div class=\"sidearm-story-template-next-game-opponent\">\n                    <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"sidearm-story-template-next-game-opponent-logo\" src=\"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/LASLlogo2PNG.png\" alt=\"La Salle\" \/><br \/>\n                    &#013;<br \/>\n                        <span class=\"sidearm-story-template-next-game-opponent-text--atVs\">at<\/span>\u00a0<span>La Salle<\/span>&#013;<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>     &#013;<br \/>\n                    <\/aside>\n<p>                    <b>RICHMOND, Va. \u2013<\/b>\u00a0Saint Louis redshirt junior <dfn><a href=\"https:\/\/slubillikens.com\/sports\/mens-basketball\/roster\/kellen-thames\/13059\" rel=\"smarttag\" rev=\"13059\">Kellen Thames<\/a><\/dfn> set a career high with 18 points and added 10 rebounds for a double-double as the Billikens knocked off VCU, 71-62, Wednesday night in Richmond, Va. \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>It was the first win for the Billikens (14-1, 2-0 Atlantic 10) in 11 trips to the Siegel Center. SLU also continues its best start to a season since 1993-94. VCU falls to 11-5 overall and 2-1 in the league.<\/p>\n<p>Thames was 7-of-10 from the field to account for his 18 points. He also dished out three assists. <dfn><a href=\"https:\/\/slubillikens.com\/sports\/mens-basketball\/roster\/dion-brown\/13064\" rel=\"smarttag\" rev=\"13064\">Dion Brown<\/a><\/dfn> scored in double figures with 10 points.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>All players contributed for Saint Louis, which played nine players 19 or more minutes. <dfn><a href=\"https:\/\/slubillikens.com\/sports\/mens-basketball\/roster\/robbie-avila\/13054\" rel=\"smarttag\" rev=\"13054\">Robbie Avila<\/a><\/dfn> and <dfn><a href=\"https:\/\/slubillikens.com\/sports\/mens-basketball\/roster\/paul-otieno\/13061\" rel=\"smarttag\" rev=\"13061\">Paul Otieno<\/a><\/dfn> scored all of their eight points in the second half. <dfn><a href=\"https:\/\/slubillikens.com\/sports\/mens-basketball\/roster\/quentin-jones\/13062\" rel=\"smarttag\" rev=\"13062\">Quentin Jones<\/a><\/dfn> added nine points for the Billikens.<\/p>\n<p>SLU, which came into the game ranking second nationally in field-goal percentage defense, held VCU to just 28.6 percent shooting from the field.<\/p>\n<p>The Billikens led by as many 14 points at one point midway through the second half, but VCU stormed back to take a late lead at 62-61 with 2:30 left.<\/p>\n<p>With the sold-out Siegel Center crowd on its feet and all the momentum on VCU&#8217;s side, <dfn><a href=\"https:\/\/slubillikens.com\/sports\/mens-basketball\/roster\/amari-mccottry\/13056\" rel=\"smarttag\" rev=\"13056\">Amari McCottry<\/a><\/dfn> nailed a clutch 3-pointer to give the lead back to SLU, sparking a 10-0 run to end the game and seal the victory for SLU.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Neither team shot it particularly well in the opening half, but a late 11-0 run by the Billikens helped send SLU into halftime leading 30-22. <dfn><a href=\"https:\/\/slubillikens.com\/sports\/mens-basketball\/roster\/kellen-thames\/13059\" rel=\"smarttag\" rev=\"13059\">Kellen Thames<\/a><\/dfn> hit three big baskets during the run.<\/p>\n<p>Defensively, the Billikens held VCU to .289 shooting (7-34) in the opening half alone.<\/p>\n<p>The Billikens are back in action on Saturday, Jan. 10, when they take on La Salle in Philadelphia. Game time on USA Network is 3 p.m. (CT).<\/p><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/slubillikens.com\/news\/2026\/1\/7\/bills-hold-off-vcu-for-first-win-at-siegel-center.aspx\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#013; &#013; &#013; Next Game: at La Salle 1\/10\/2026 | 3 pm &#013; USA Network &#013; &#013; 104.1 FM \/ 1120 AM KMOX&#013; &#013; Jan. 10 (Sat) \/ 3 pm&#013; &#013; at\u00a0La Salle&#013; &#013; RICHMOND, Va. \u2013\u00a0Saint Louis redshirt junior Kellen Thames set a career high with 18 points and added 10 rebounds for a &#8230; <a title=\"Bills Hold Off VCU for First Win at Siegel Center\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/?p=16463\" aria-label=\"Read more about Bills Hold Off VCU for First Win at Siegel Center\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16464,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16463","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Bills-Hold-Off-VCU-for-First-Win-at-Siegel-Center.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16463","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16463"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16463\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16465,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16463\/revisions\/16465"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/16464"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16463"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16463"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16463"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}