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Saint Louis guard Kwamain Mitchell will make his season debut tonight

NCAA Basketball Tournament - St Louis v Michigan State

COLUMBUS, OH - MARCH 18: Kwamain Mitchell #3 of the St. Louis Billikens passes the ball around Derrick Nix #25 of the Michigan State Spartans in the second half during the third round of the 2012 NCAA Men’s basketball tournament at Nationwide Arena on March 18, 2012 in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Jamie Sabau/Getty Images)

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On the second day of practice Saint Louis point guard Kwamain Mitchell went down with a broken bone in his left foot, and without him the Billikens weren’t “whole” despite their 8-3 record.

That changes tonight however, as Mitchell will make his season debut at Chaifetz Arena when SLU takes on SIU-Edwardsville.

The 5-10 senior was a key cog in the Billiken attack last season, as he averaged 12.4 points and 3.7 assists per game for a team that reached the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2000. SLU has played well to this point in the season, but with Mitchell the BIllikens undoubtedly are a team that can win the Atlantic 10.

“I’m excited to be out there. Instead of talking on the sidelines, it was better to be talking with them while actually on the court,” Mitchell said after practice according to Tom Timmermann of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “I feel confident I’ll be ready to contribute somewhat to the team.”

Obviously SLU will exercise some caution when it comes to how many minutes Mitchell plays, as there is also the issue of conditioning to be wary of.

“He wasn’t out for the full practice,” interim SLU coach Jim Crews said, “but he went through it and to my eyes he looked good. I’m not the doctor, but from my eyes he looked good. What’s hard is the conditioning situation. You can condition nonbasketball in the pool, on the treadmill. There are a million ways to do it, but it’s different from basketball conditioning.”

But his return comes at the right time for Saint Louis, as they’ll host a New Mexico team that just won at No. 8 Cincinnati on New Year’s Eve. After a game against Savannah State (January 4) conference play begins, with a home game against UMass followed by a trip to Philadelphia to take on Temple.

Mitchell’s return will relieve Mike McCall Jr. and Jordair Jett of some of the responsibilities added to their respective plates during his absence, and as a team the Billikens will have the rotation they envisioned back in October.

Raphielle also writes for the NBE Basketball Report and can be followed on Twitter at @raphiellej.