Walk-on Larry Hughes Jr. was named a starter for the first time. Javonte Perkins and Javon Pickett ended up with significant ball-handling duties. Gibson Jimerson had his defensive assignment switched to cover the nation’s fifth-leading scorer.

Tweaks are one thing. Tweaks on the road are a little more challenging.

But the Billikens made it work, often with great effectiveness, to earn an 81-74 win in Washington, D.C., on Saturday.

“We really wanted to do everything we could to manage the game with the offense and win with defense,” SLU coach Travis Ford said. “It didn’t work that way in the first half. Once we got a feel of how they were defending us, we went to two or three different sets and kept getting a lot out of them. We weren’t trying to make it overly complicated.”

SLU won the game with a run of 25 consecutive points with 20 coming at the start of the second half when the Colonials went nine minutes before scoring. The Billikens then dug in to protect the lead, which dwindled to two with 2:49 remaining.

Perkins scored a season-high 27 points and surpassed 1,000 for his career, and Pickett had 24, both scoring multiple times on drives that GW seemed incapable of stopping for a stretch. Hughes played 26 minutes with one turnover.

And Jimerson slowed James Bishop IV, who entered the game averaging 22.3 points. He was 5-for-23 with 14 points.

“Gibson’s defense might have been the best I’ve seen him play,” Ford said. “He played 40 minutes and did an incredible job on Bishop. I couldn’t be more proud. It took a lot out of him, so I don’t know if he had as much offensively.”

A big game from Perkins was exactly what SLU (12-6 overall, 4-1 in the A-10) needed, especially when the defense was struggling in the first half. He made 11 of 17 shots and helped turn the game in the second half while running the offense.

During the 25-0 run, Perkins scored 10 points and Pickett added eight. Perkins had three 3-pointers in the game, but his ability to challenge GW’s inside players led to an onslaught in concert with Pickett.

“It was something different that I probably haven’t done since high school,” Perkins said of playing point guard at times. “Their big was dropped down, so we knew we could get to the rim and had to make smart decisions. They weren’t challenging us, so we just had to make layups.”

SLU had numerous obstacles to overcome after the first half. The defense was porous, allowing the Colonials to take a 39-36 lead. And the rebounding was lackluster, with GW grabbing 10 more than the Billikens, who had no offensive boards in the first 20 minutes.

Jake Forrester emerged to grab 10 in the second half after recording none in the first. SLU rallied to finish with a three-rebound advantage.

“I don’t know if someone could have a worse half and then be the difference in the game,” Ford said of Forrester. “Everything went against him in the first half. He couldn’t get it right and then wow, he was tremendous at both ends.”

SLU began working on playing without Collins the day before the game, according to Pickett. It was a huge task considering that the Billikens had just one previous win away from home this season.

They were allowing an average of 80 points in their road and neutral court games. The Colonials were well on their way to that number after 20 minutes.

“It’s important to go out and compete. I think we like to go on the road,” Pickett said. “To get those wins takes some grit, and it’s important for the long haul to stack up wins. The road is a different type of battle.”

The playmaking on offense was not at the same level without Collins, but SLU took advantage of what the defense allowed to shoot 53%. Pickett led in assists with four.

SLU has a three-game win streak that it will take to Loyola-Chicago on Wednesday. As for Collins’ status, Ford seemed uncertain as to whether he would be ready.

“Hopefully he’ll be back soon,” he said. “We don’t know when that will be. It could be a little while. We’ll see.”