WASHINGTON - Once you've lost a game by 41 points, as Saint Louis did to Kent State earlier this season, just about everything is going to look better by comparison.
But on Thursday night, SLU opened its Atlantic 10 season with multiple thuds. Shooting poorly in the first half and awful in the second -- or was it the other way around? -- Saint Louis was humbled by George Washington 49-20.
SLU's 20 points were the fewest scored in a Division I game since the shot clock was instituted by the NCAA in 1985-86. (The previous low was 21 points, by Georgia Southern in 1997 and Princeton in 2005.)
SLU made 14.6 percent of its shots, a school mark for lowest shooting percentage in a game.
The team combined to miss its first 18 three-point tries before Paul Eckerle made one with less than four minutes to go.
For the game, SLU (9-6, 0-1) was one for 19 on threes.
"We missed some good shots, yes," Billikens coach Rick Majerus said. "Anyone can look out there and see we don't have height, we don't have depth, we don't have a lot of experience. But we do have some other things we have to capitalize on."
FROM NEWS SERVICES