Nicole Auerbach

USA TODAY Sports

Saint Louis might be the quietest 22-2 team in the history of college basketball.

That might be an exaggeration. But the Billikens do seem to be overlooked, despite a 16-game winning streak, a No. 12 ranking and the nation's third-most efficient defense.

They're doing it all with a cast of veteran players – their entire starting lineup is made up of seniors, led by Dwayne Evans and Jordair Jett – and they're doing it in one of the most intriguing conferences in the country.

On Saturday, Saint Louis will face VCU in what could be a preview of the Atlantic 10 tournament final.

Little more than a year removed from one of the most trying, difficult seasons one could imagine – with the team and coaching staff coping with the death of coach Rick Majerus last December, and playing to honor him – Saint Louis is poised for another deep run come March. (If you're looking for a sleeper Final Four team, you may not have to look further than the Billikens.)

Saint Louis coach Jim Crews spoke with USA TODAY Sports college basketball reporter Nicole Auerbach about the A-10, the growth of Evans and Jett and the perks of coaching a veteran team.

Q: You face VCU this weekend, after a week off. Last season, you beat them twice, so you know what it takes to beat them. But does it still help to have that extra time to prepare for their system, because they present a unique challenge (with the HAVOC defense)?

A: They typify, in some sense, our league. We talk about this as a staff all the time. Everybody has a unique style of play. It's very challenging to prepare for, and VCU's at the top of the list. They do it from a defensive and offensive standpoint. Sideline and out of bounds, and so forth. It is a very unique league, more unique than I can ever remember because the styles challenge you. Some guys make you break some of the rules that you have, in terms of what you want to do offensively or defensively.

Q: What's an example of a rule that you've been forced to break?

A: OK, for example: You always want to get to a help-side position defensively, that's what we teach. Well, because they do some type of action, you tell your guy to hug his man. That's going against your principles. Different things like that. … It makes it challenging on one hand, and – frustrating's not the right word – it makes it fun sometimes to try to figure it all out. It's like a jigsaw puzzle.

Q: Last season, the Atlantic 10 had five teams in the tournament, and those teams had some success. Then, conference realignment hits and you lose Butler and Xavier, and add George Mason. How do you compare the league this season to last season?

A: I think it's just as good. Maybe better. Last year was outstanding. This year is outstanding. Plus, when you play four teams twice – last year, we only played one team twice – that makes it a tougher situation, too.

Q: Since conferences have gotten larger and leagues have had to go away from a round robin schedule, a lot of coaches have said conference play feels very different.

A: It's been strange for me. I've been used to (round robins) my entire coaching life. A year ago, it was like the Bracketbuster conference because you played everybody only once. Last year, we played Massachusetts the very first game of the year in the conference. We play them the last this year. We will not have seen Massachusetts in 14 months, and that's very rare in conference play.

Q: Your team is on a 16-game winning streak, and you've suffered only two losses all season (to No. 2 Wichita State and No. 21 Wisconsin). Your team has been so consistent, so strong defensively – and I've even heard people say it's almost boring, in a good way, the way you're piling up wins.

A: If winning is boring, then I'm all for it. But I get a lot people who tell me they really like to watch our team because they play as a team, they pass the ball well and it's someone different (scoring) every night. They really play hard.

Q: I think it comes from people focusing on your defense and occasional low-scoring games, like when people say similar things about Virginia. Both efficient defenses.

A: To do as well as our guys did last year and to do as well as they've done this year so far, we're good defensively. We are. But we're pretty good offensively as well. You're not going to win that many games being one-dimensional. Our guys are good offensively as well.

Q: Speaking of the offense, how important have Dwayne Evans (14.5 points per game) and Jordair Jett (13.2 ppg, 4.9 assists per game) been? They've carried a lot of the scoring load and have hit some big shots this season, like Jett's game-winner against La Salle last weekend.

A: Jordair, a couple of things have changed. He's always been a guy, from an offensive standpoint, who's distributed the ball and scored a little. His minutes have gone up, by about (five) a game. The makeup of our team is that our team needs him to be more of an offensive-minded person than he was last year. He's taken on that responsibility and the minutes, and he's having a great year. He's really grown with the responsibility; some guys can't.

Dwayne has really done the same thing. He's always been pretty good, but he kind of has taken off since last January. That's the fun part of coaching, watching kids develop and grow and keep getting better on the court, off the court, everywhere else.

Q: You've brought in a few freshmen, of course, but you have a very experienced, veteran team. Not every coach has that sort of situation, especially ones with those one-and-done type of players. What's it like to coach a bunch of seniors? Is it more rewarding, or like you said, fun, since you've watched them grow?

A: One of the things that's been enjoyable for me is we've got some players who are very, very bright and really understand the game. They understand the nuances of the game. They understand our system very well. They understand the big picture, what needs to get done. How they converse not only with each other, but with me.

Just to give you an example, we were playing down in Nashville, and I called something, and a kid on the bench says, 'That's not going to work, because of the guys in the game right now. It's the wrong lineup for that particular situation.' He was 100% right. That happens at timeouts. That happens at practices. I lean on them a lot. What's giving you guys problems out there? What do we need to tweak? …

One time, when we were on the road and school was out, we had everything up on the board, and we said, 'How do you think we should guard this?' We just started discussing, the coaches with the players. How do you want to guard this? How do you want to guard that? They made the scouting report. That was fun.

Q: There was a lot going on around your program last year (with head coach Rick Majerus falling ill, leaving the program and then passing away at age 64. You were asked a lot heading into the season if things felt different now, and also with you not being the interim head coach anymore. What's this season been like compared to last year's trying season?

A: Not much difference, to be honest. … Obviously when Coach passed away, that was an emotional time for us. It pops up every now and then. But things are a little more stable. The 'interim' was I don't think ever a distraction last year. I make the crack about it, we're all interim. I'm still interim now. So are you. That's how it is professionally. That's how it is in life. That's how we go about business here, do the best we can and however things fall, that's how they fall.

Q: I always like to end these Q&As with the same question. Who has had the greatest impact on your coaching career? Who are your mentors?

A: I've been off-the-charts fortunate with that. If I said one name, it would be totally disrespectful to so many names, including my parents. No. 1 would be my parents, who taught me that your self-worth is not going to be in how many games you win, or if you're batting fourth in the batting lineup or you're throwing touchdown passes. That's not your self-worth. But I've had some teachers from grade school to high school. I haven't had a bad experience. I have had tremendous experiences with teachers and coaches who have been mentors to me. I've been unbelievably blessed. … There's a laundry list of mentors. Because I need a lot of help. (laughs)