Saint Louis guard Fred Thatch Jr. scored a career-high 20 points to lead the Billikens past Mercer 75-58 Saturday in a campus game of the Cancun Challenge.
The Billikens will carry a 4-1 record to Mexico, where they will play Illinois State on Tuesday. Mercer moves to 1-3.
Thatch finished 7-of-8 shooting from the field and 4-of-6 from the stripe en route to his career-best 20 points. He also pulled down eight rebounds and registered three steals.
Terrence Hargrove Jr. recorded his second-straight double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Also scoring in double-figures was Gibson Jimerson, who finished with 15 points.
Yuri Collins had eight points and seven assists. Marten Linssen chipped in nine points for the Billikens.
Saint Louis shot better than 50 percent from the field (.510, 26-51) for the third time this season. SLU held Mercer to just 36.4 percent shooting from the field and 23.1 percent from 3-point range, well below the Bears’ averages.
Mercer was hitting its treys early on and built a nine-point advantage midway through the first half before Thatch went to work. Thatch made all six of his shots in the opening half as the Billikens took a three-point lead into halftime, 38-35.
Hargrove opened the scoring in the second half with a triple, and the Billikens never trailed the rest of the way.
The Billikens head to the Hard Rock Hotel in Riviera Maya and will take on Illinois State Tuesday night. Then, SLU will face the either Buffalo or Stephen F. Austin the following night. Both games will be televised on CBS Sports Network and will also air live on KMOX 1120 AM.
