"Their defense is not trying to turn you over," Giannini said. "Their defense is to try to stop you from scoring. So if you force the issue and you try to do things that aren't there, you're going to have a lot of turnovers and you're probably going to lose the game. We absolutely did not take what the defense gave us."
The Explorers, who average a conference-best 8.7 three-point field goals, were just 4 of 10 from beyond the arc.
The turnover problem became glaring in the closing minutes after La Salle freshman Jerrell Wright, who led his team with 18 points and nine rebounds, dunked home a Tyreek Duren pass to tie the game at 47-all with 5 minutes, 18 seconds to play.
The Explorers turned the ball over on three of their next four possessions. St. Louis capitalized with a 5-0 run and took the lead for good.
Duren sank a running bank shot to keep the Explorers in the game at 52-49 with 1:16 to play, but the Billikens got three shots at the basket on their next trip. Dwayne Evans, who had 16 points and 13 boards, converted the third to put the visitors up five with 39 seconds left.
Ramon Galloway, La Salle's top scorer with a 15.1-point average, tied a season low with five points and handed St. Louis seven turnovers.
Giannini said the mistakes on offense were a team-wide problem, not an individual one.
"They did a great job on everyone," he said. "And when someone does a great job against you, you have to be strong, you have to be patient, you have to be smart. And that's where we came up short."
Contact staff writer Joe Juliano at 215-854-4494, jjuliano@phillynews.com or @joejulesinq on Twitter.
