AMHERST - The preparation has changed from game to game.

Against Duquesne on Jan. 18, the University of Massachusetts men's basketball team had to be ready for an opponent that wanted to push the tempo, run and press almost as much as the Minutemen do. Three days later they had to get themselves set to face Richmond's modified version of the backdoor-cut heavy Princeton offense and the Spiders' fairly unique matchup zone.

For Saturday's 2 p.m. game against Saint Louis at the Mullins Center, the Minutemen will try to counteract the Billikens' slow-down, grind-out-the-shot clock, screen-heavy offense and tight defense.

"It's crazy in the league that there's so many different styles with the way teams are playing," UMass coach Derek Kellogg said. "It's difficult because we don't really play that way. You can give the guys an idea of what's going on and hope they can adjust when the game starts."

The Minutemen (15-5, 4-2 Atlantic 10) are 10-0 at home, but that won't likely intimidate the Billikens, who snapped Xavier's 43-game Atlantic 10 home winning streak on Wednesday. Saint Louis (16-4, 4-2), like the Minutemen, is one of five teams tied for first place in the Atlantic 10.

The Billikens opened conference play 1-2 with a win over George Washington and losses at Dayton and to Temple at home. But they've won three straight since then. Before Wednesday's win over the Musketeers, they edged Charlotte 68-67 on the road and hammered Duquesne 68-41 at home.

The Duquesne result should particularly concern UMass because it shows how well Saint Louis can handle a team that wants to run. Duquesne was averaging 74.6 points per game entering the game.

The Billikens have by far the league's top scoring defense. They allow just 56.2 points per game and outscore opponents by an average of 13.8 points per game.

"It's a hard team to prepare for with their physicality and how they run their offense and all the ball screens they set," Kellogg said. "Even though we've practiced against it, it's going to be a totally different ball game."

Kellogg hopes to be able to create some transition opportunities, but he expects his team to have to execute effectively in the half court to have a chance to win.

"The teams that have beaten them have done it in a slower, half-court game. For us to win we have to play really well. It'll be a huge barometer to see how far we've come since the beginning of the year," he said. "Quick bad shots are not conducive to winning this game. We do have to turn it up a little faster than they're accustomed, but I don't think we can get them fully into an up-and-down basketball game."

Shooting effectively will be key as Saint Louis has grabbed a league best 70.6 percent of the rebounds off opponents' missed shots.

Senior forward Brian Conklin leads the Billikens at 14.6 points and 5.3 rebounds per game, while junior point guard Kwamain Mitchell averages 11.7 points and 4.0 assists.

Matt Vautour can be reached at mvautour@gazettenet.com. Follow UMass coverage on Twitter at twitter.com/GazetteUMass. Get UMass coverage delivered in your Facebook news feed at http://www.facebook.com/GazetteUMassCoverage.