Well, it doesn’t get much bigger in exhibition hoops than the Billikens vs. the Fighting Bees of St. Ambrose, or Davenport, Iowa.

Cory Remekun didn’t practice Thursday — I’m not sure about Friday, but on Friday morning, Rick Majerus told me Remekun was “quarantined” — so how much he’ll play Saturday is uncertain. In an injury that sounds, well, like not something an 18-year-old should have, Majerus said Jeff Reid had “manned up” and practiced hard through a bad bunion. (That was one of the reasons he got limited playing time in the first game.)

Obviously, the troubles SLU had in its exhibition opener gave SLU plenty to work on in practice this week. “I would say we’ve had spirited practices,” Majerus said. “We’ve gotten better. It’s funny seeing freshmen being shown the way by sophomores. JJ (Justin Jordan) more than anyone realized he’s got to defend or he won’t play and he’s moved up in that direction.”

“They’ve been a good group. They don’t know quite how to play physical. As underclassmen, you don’t know how to do that. I’ve enjoyed it, and it’s going to be what it is. Everything is a lernaing experience. Every day there’s not one new term, there are 11 new terms. There’s lot of new techniques, even to the sophomores, they’re still new.”

Majerus said some of his players, particularly Jon Smith and Jeff Reid, are facing tough transitions from high school to college, going from being centers who played with their backs to the basket, to playing facing the basket.

“Jon needs to understand what I want,” Majerus said. “He’s got to defend and make that priority one, and rebound. If he does that, he’ll fall into baskets because he has athletic ability and length. The only tougher adjustment (than going from 5 to 4) is going from shooting guard to being a 1 guard. That’s where Christian (Salecich) has issues, because he’s playing both guard spots. I think that’s very, very tough. I realize that and he does as well.”

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By the way, Nebraska, which comes to SLU on Nov. 18, beat Arkansas-Fort Smith on Friday night 86-66, which is actually a smaller margin than SLU won by. Nebraska, with more players, saw a lot of reserves get minutes, but at halftime, presumably before the bench was cleared, Nebraska led by four. Take that for what it’s worth.

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I know you’ve been waiting! It’s the return of the plus-minus stat for SLU basketball. For those who are new to the blog or those who just haven’t been paying attention, the plus-minus is simply how many points SLU scored while a certain player was on the court compared to how many points SLU allowed when that player was on the court, just like in hockey. So while a player may look good because if he scores a lot of points, if he’s a defensive liability and lets his man score a lot of points, he’ll be penalized. In certain situations, such as when a coach makes offensive-defensive switches late in a game, a player’s numbers may take a dive. Paul Eckerle ended up with some bad numbers in some games last year because he was only the court when SLU’s opponent had the ball, then would come out when SLU got it back, so it was hard for him to be anything but negative. But over the course of a season, these small variants get smoothed out. Also, in any one game, a difference of one or two points between players is no big deal. It’s the big gaps where the stories are.

Herewith are the numbers for the Arkansas-Fort Smith game. Usually I’ll have them that night or the next day, but it’s early in the season and I’m not quite up to speed yet:

Jordan +23

Smith +21

Conklin +19

Remekun +14

Salecich +14

John +13

Reid +13

Cassity +11

Mitchell +7

Reed +5

Mitchell, of course, had a dreadful shooting night, maing just 2 of 15 shots. In the whole game, SLU scored just 41 of its 79 points with Mitchell on the court, compared to 53 for Justin Jordan (in 4 fewer minutes of playing time)

Oh, and even if the game is lopsided, don’t look for walk-on Darrin Young to get in the game. As of midday Friday, he hadn’t been cleared by the NCAA yet. He didn’t suit up for the last game and likely won’t suit up for this one either.