Ishan Sharma scored 29 points and made 9 of 12 3-point attempts off the bench as No. 24 Saint Louis cruised to a 97-62 win over St. Bonaventure in an Atlantic 10 contest on Friday in Allegany, NY.
Trey Green racked up 15 points and Amari McCottry chipped in 12 points for Saint Louis (19-1, 7-0 A-10). The Billikens matched the 1993-94 team for the best start in the program’s 110-year history.
Dasonte Bowen led the Bonnies (12-8, 1-6) with 17 points and Darryl Simmons II pitched in 12 points.
The Billikens shot 64.7% from the field (22 of 34) in the first half and 72.2% from 3-point range (13 of 18) as they extended their winning streak to 13 games. St. Bonaventure shot 33.3% (10 of 30) on field goal attempts and just 1 of 8 from behind the arc in the opening 20 minutes.
Saint Louis had first-half runs of 7-0, 9-0 and 13-0, building a commanding 58-26 halftime lead.
A McCottry layup capped the Billikens’ game-opening 7-0 run. After a Cayden Charles’ jumper got the Bonnies on the board, Saint Louis’ next five baskets were all threes. Sharma nailed consecutive treys for a 22-7 lead.
Sharma’s fourth 3-pointer of the first half gave Saint Louis a 31-11 lead with 10:17 remaining. One play later, Sharma’s steal led to an alley-oop dunk for Kellen Thames.
Sharma’s hot hand led the Billikens to a 46-12 advantage in bench points.
The Billikens’ lead swelled to 58-25 as Sharma again hit two straight threes. His 18 first-half points set a career high.
An 11-5 rally punctuated by a Simmons’ 3-pointer cut the Saint Louis’ lead to 63-37 early in the second half. It was the closest the Bonnies would get the rest of the way.
The Billikens shot 57.8% from the field (37 of 64) and 57.6% from three (19 of 33) for the game. The Bonnies’ struggles continued in the second half as they finished 34.4% (21 of 61) from the field and 18.2% (4 of 22) from long range.
-Field Level Media
