Wednesday, November 19th, 8:00 p.m. (et).

FACTS & STATS: Site: Chaifetz Arena (10,600) -- St. Louis, Missouri. Television: None. Home Record: KSU 1-0, Saint Louis 1-0. Away Record: KSU 0-0, Saint Louis 0-0. Neutral Record: KSU 0-0, Saint Louis 0-0. Conference Record: KSU 0-0, Saint Louis 0-0. Series Record: Series is tied, 1-1.

GAME NOTES: The Saint Louis Billikens continue to show off the new Chaifetz Arena as they host the Kent State Golden Flashes in non-conference action tonight. This game marks the second of three straight at home for the Billikens, with the team still having to play Boston College on Saturday afternoon. Last Friday the program began the 2008-09 campaign with a 48-33 win over Missouri-St. Louis. The last time the Billikens held an opponent to fewer points was in 1960 when San Jose State managed a mere 26 points. Following the BC meeting, SLU will hit the road for three straight versus the likes of Nebraska, Detroit and Southern Illinois. As for the Golden Flashes, they started their season on Monday night versus North Carolina Central and came away with a lopsided 83-42 win in Geno Ford's first game as the team's head coach. Closing out the month of November, the Golden Flashes will take part in the South Padre Island Invitational with meetings against UNC Wilmington and Illinois already on the schedule. The series between these two teams is tied at one game apiece after Kent State picked up a win in Ohio last season.

Kent State ran out to a 13-0 lead three and a half minutes into Monday night's game with North Carolina Central and never looked back, en route to a 23-point halftime lead and a 41-point victory overall. The squad shot just 4-of-16 behind the three-point line, yet still managed to convert 53.3 percent from the floor overall, helping to offset an ugly 15-of-28 effort at the charity stripe. One of five players in double figures, Al Fisher tallied 15 points and pulled down eight rebounds, while Chris Singletary chipped in 12 points and a team-high five assists. Rashad Woods contributed 11 points off the bench, Anthony Simpson and Brandon Parks 10 points apiece as well. From a team that finished 28-7 a season ago and was a perfect 16-0 at home, the Golden Flashes have many of the crucial pieces back for another run in the Mid-American Conference. Fisher led the team a year ago with his 13.9 ppg and was also first with 141 assists, although he also had 146 turnovers. Singletary was responsible for 10.3 ppg in 2007-08.

Scoring a minimal number of points is nothing new for the Billikens, a team that tallied a minute 20 points in an entire game against George Washington last season. So, to see that Saint Louis got by with a 48-33 victory in the opener is not all that surprising. Kwamain Mitchell managed to come up with a team-best 16 points and accounted for five of their nine assists on the night, while Tommie Liddell checked in with 12 points and cleared eight rebounds for a squad that won the rebounding battle, 39-20, and held the visitors to just 1-of-10 shooting from three-point range. Last season the Billikens had just two players who averaged double-digit scoring and Liddell was one of them with his 12.3 ppg. Kevin Lisch, who is led the program with 14.6 points per game and also paced the group with his 97 assists and 38 steals, did not appear in the opener for the Billikens.

The openers for both of these teams really didn't give a good indication of what either can expect the rest of the season, which is why this matchup might be a better measuring stick. Seeing as how Saint Louis is at home and the Golden Flashes just played on Monday night, this decision should fall in favor of the Billikens

Predicted Outcome

Saint Louis 63, Kent State 59