Saint Louis pounds Georgia 102-77 in March Madness as Dion Brown dominates at the rim with 18 points

By Canadian Press on March 19, 2026.

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Dion Brown scored 18 points on 9-of-10 shooting, all on layups and dunks, and Saint Louis blew out Georgia 102-77 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday night.

Amari McCottry added 13 points and nine rebounds, while Robbie Avila had 12 points, five rebounds and five assists for the ninth-seeded Billikens.

Saint Louis (29-5) set a school record for victories in a season and advanced to meet Michigan, the Midwest Region’s top seed, on Saturday.

Jeremiah Wilkinson scored 30 points for No. 8 seed Georgia. This was the most lopsided loss of the season for the Bulldogs (22-10), who had the most regular-season wins in program history.

The Billikens shot 58% from the field and surpassed 100 points for the eighth time this season. On the other end, Saint Louis limited Georgia to 35% shooting with a suffocating defense that leads the country in opposing field goal percentage.

The Billikens bullied their way to 11 baskets at the rim during a 23-0 run that began just before halftime and ballooned their lead to 67-32 with just over 15 minutes to play.

Avila excited the crowd with a spinning layup during a 12-0 run that put Saint Louis ahead 37-18 with 5:42 remaining in the first half.

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AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness

Jonah Bronstein, The Associated Press

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