On a day that began with heavy hearts at St. Louis University after the death of beloved former coach Charlie Spoonhour, the current Billikens paid him the best tribute they could with an unexpectedly lopsided 86-62 win over co-league-leader St. Bonaventure that was a three-point game with 10 minutes to play.

SLU coach Rick Majerus described the game as "funky." Forward Brian Conklin agreed with that description and also suggested "disjointed" as another adjective. SLU closed with a 28-9 run to turn the game into a rout. SLU did it an unexpected way, making 26 of 31 free throws, good for 83.9 percent, one game after its dismal 42.1 percent free throw shooting was a contributing factor in its loss at Massachusetts on Saturday.

SLU scored a season-high 86 points despite making just four of 21 3-point shots. Two St. Bonaventure players were called for technical fouls and the Bonnies' star, Andrew Nicholson, played just 10 minutes because of foul trouble.

"Who would have thought we would score 50 in the second half?" said Conklin, who had 19 points and became the 26th SLU player to have 1,000 points in his career. "That was one of the crazy aspects of the game."

But SLU got what years from now will look like an easy win despite having been behind by two at the half. SLU improved to 17-5 — its best mark at this point in the season since 1993-94, when Spoonhour was coach — and 5-3 in Atlantic 10 play. In the nonconforming manner of the league this season, that puts them one game behind La Salle, which is alone in first. St. Bonaventure, which had been part of a three-way tie for the lead, is 12-8, 5-3.

Conklin was one of five Billikens in double figures. Kwamain Mitchell had 22 points, Mike McCall, who got the start instead of Kyle Cassity, had 15, including going six of six at the free throw line, Jordair Jett had 13 and Dwayne Evans had 10 points and 11 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season.

"One of the things Brain and I kept telling the guys was, effort," Mitchell said. "That was one of the things that won us this game. We were ready to play."

"We played really hard, especially in the second half," Majerus said. "I was proud of my guys for maintaining their poise and composure for the most part. Brian played an outstanding game. Brian's got a big heart."

SLU led 54-51 with 10 minutes to go, and St. Bonaventure didn't do much after that. Part of it was because Nicholson, one of the top players in the league, was on the bench with foul trouble. He played just one minute in the first half with foul trouble and then picked up fouls three and four with 14:05 to play in the second half when he fouled and then received a technical for arguing. That possession allowed SLU to extend its lead to eight points, though St. Bonaventure cut it to three.

Conklin had said that one of SLU's plans was to try to get Nicholson in foul trouble. It took 57 seconds for him to get two fouls.

"I guess we could have done it in 56 seconds," Conklin said, "but it worked to a T. ... He picked up a couple quick ones in the second half and he wasn't in the game the whole time."

Nicholson finished with two points, which he got on the first possession of the game. He never scored again.

SLU just pulled away, keeping St. Bonaventure from scoring and getting easy baskets at the other end. Cassity hit a 3 with 8:14 to play to push SLU's lead to 64-53, part of a 17-0 run that put the game out of reach.