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St. Louis University’s home opener accomplished most of what it was there for, a chance to ease into the season and for the team and its new mix of players and coaches to work their way through troubles on court in a forgiving atmosphere.

SLU’s 95-44 win over Avila, an NAIA school in Kansas City, on Sunday at Chaifetz Arena was not too different from SLU’s exhibition games with Rockhurst and Maryville — the margin of victory is bigger in this one than in either of those — except that now SLU is 1-1 and new coach Josh Schertz has his first win with the Billikens.

But things also are a bit complicated for SLU right now. Robbie Avila, the program’s headliner and whose last name served as impetus for this game to be scheduled, is out because of a sprained ankle. (He still was in a walking boot but not using a crutch on Sunday.) Kobe Johnson, a transfer from West Virginia who is expected to be one of the team’s starters, is out because of a shoulder injury. Down 40% of the projected starting lineup means the SLU team on display for the home opener isn’t what the team expects it will look like shortly.

“Those are two guys that we are going to need, especially in conference play,� said guard Larry Hughes II, one of the few holdovers on the team from the Travis Ford era. “Kobe is a big, physical guard who can get downhill and create action. Obviously, everybody knows Robbie’s great at what he does. Right now, it’s just next man up. Schertz is preaching that this is the time for guys to up their game and develop their game and get those opportunities that they once didn’t have early in the season.�

Hughes was one of the players who had that opportunity on Sunday. Hughes had gone 0 for 5 from the field against Santa Clara in the opener. SLU was outscored by 20 points in his 19 minutes on the court, but Schertz had praised him afterward for having a good game. On Sunday, his contributions were plain to see as he hit five 3-pointers for 15 points. Four of the 3s came in a six-possession span in the second half. SLU was 27 points better than Avila with Hughes on the court.

Hughes made two defensive mistakes in the second half, and Schertz pulled him from the game. But with sizable lead, Schertz was able to put him back in and have him play through it.

“Maybe in a tighter game, Larry makes those two defensive errors in the second half, and he’s pulled,� Schertz said. “He probably doesn’t get another chance. Today, we go back with him. And then I thought he settled in and played really good basketball.�

Another player who had a chance to step up was freshman guard Amari McCottry, who didn’t get off the bench against Santa Clara in South Dakota and on Sunday was in the starting lineup. McCottry had five points, five rebounds, six assists and four steals in 19 minutes and would have had more had he not had four fouls.

“When Kobe went out and then Robbie went out,� Schertz said, “we were going to obviously, have a spot open. I told them, I said, ‘Hey, I’m going to let you guys decide it.’ And I thought Amari’s four days of practice between South Dakota and today, I thought he earned that with the way he competed. I said coming in, ‘I’m going ti turn every page. I’m going to keep an open mind about the team.’ Amari didn’t play in South Dakota. He started today.

“I’m going to maintain that same open mind all year about what’s going on. I’m never going to close off what the possibilities for this team are, what gives us the best chance to win. I thought some of that carried over. I mean, his ability to disrupt defensively, he’s got such long arms, he can pressure the ball. He’s got good feet, and he had six assists. And I thought he could have had double digits.�

Schertz said that McCottry could be in the rotation going forward.

Like some of its other games, it took SLU a while to get started, and the team led just 19-18 with 9:15 to go in the first half. Avila actually had two possessions with a chance to go ahead but couldn’t score, and Gibson Jimerson hit a 3-pointer for some of his 28 points, helping SLU take over from there. The Billikens closed the first half up 18 points, and after Avila scored the first basket of the second half, SLU led by as many as 52 points.

Jimerson had 28 points in 26 minutes, which moved him to 1,869 in his SLU career, and he could move from fifth to third on the school’s career scoring list on Saturday when the team faces Loyola Marymount if he can score 12 points, jumping over Monroe Douglass (1,877) and Roland Gray (1,880).

“(The slow starts are) something we kind of talked about,� Jimerson said. “But I thought as the game went, we adjusted our physicality to what it needed to be as a team. Offensively, I thought we did a good job. Obviously, I was able to get some clean looks. But it’s a credit to my guys finding me, same with Larry in the second half. We just have to improve the beginning of the game because we can’t come out against good teams and adjust as the game goes along. We have to kind of start the game like that.�

SLU took a school record 41 3-point shots, though it made only 14 of them.