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X marks the spot No. 11 Musketeers cruise past overmatched PeacocksPosted: Monday November 18, 2002 9:11 PMUpdated: Monday November 18, 2002 11:35 PM
CINCINNATI (AP) -- Romain Sato hit 3-pointers. Lionel Chalmers drove inside and passed. Preseason All-America David West roamed the floor and picked his shots. This is what No. 11 Xavier wants to look like. Sato scored 23 points and Xavier used a diversified offense -- one less reliant on its best player -- to beat St. Peter's 87-48 Monday night in the first round of the Preseason NIT. With Will Caudle and Anthony Myles shoring up the front line, West was free to roam and shoot jumpers in a retooled, half-court offense. The forward used his newfound freedom to score 21 points. "With this team, you're going to have to pick your poison," said West, who shot jumpers and driving bank shots and was 9-of-16 from the field. "We have a lot of weapons. It was our first game, and we're going to get better." It was exactly what Xavier was hoping to get out of its first game against an overmatched team. St. Peter's missed 17 of its first 20 shots against Xavier's tight man-to-man defense and never seriously threatened. The Musketeers will play Stanford, which beat Boston University 61-57, in the second round on Wednesday night. Myles, a 6-foot-9 junior college transfer, scored eight points and had two rebounds. Caudle, a 6-9 redshirt freshman, had four first-half points and two rebounds. Chalmers added nine points and five assists and steadied the offense as Xavier put away a struggling opponent -- something the Musketeers often struggled to do in the past. "We understand that to be a great team, we've got to be able to do that," Chalmers said. "We stayed on top of them. The more we continue to do that, the better we'll be at it." Xavier was No. 10 in the AP's preseason poll -- matching the highest starting point in school history -- primarily because West decided to come back for his senior season. St. Peter's tried to contain West with a zone that bracketed him whenever he got the ball. West scored the game's first basket on a driving bank shot, then settled in and passed to open teammates on the perimeter. Sato hit two 3-pointers and had 10 points as the Musketeers pulled ahead 20-5. With the big early lead, coach Thad Matta went to his bench to get his newcomers some experience. Xavier used nine players in the first 12 minutes. "They've not only got talent, but tenacity on defense and good execution on offense," St. Peter's coach Bob Leckie said. "And, they've got several great players." The Musketeers led by as many as 23 points in the first half and 39 in the second. St. Peter's returns three starters from a team that went 4-24 for the second consecutive season. The Peacocks were 13-71 in the last three seasons, but are hoping to stabilize with the arrival of a top recruit. Freshman point guard Keydren Clark scored 17 points in his debut, settling in after a rough first half. Clark was a standout at Rice High School, which won the New York City Catholic title and the state Federation championship last season. Clark came out wearing a blue sweat band pulled down over his ears like a head warmer, then missed his first six shots from the field and two free throws. He got rid of the sweat band and broke out of his slump by hitting three 3s in the opening minutes of the second half. After St. Peter's cut the lead to 15 points on Clark's shooting, Xavier immediately turned up the defensive pressure and pulled away. Clark was 6-of-22 from the field, including 4-of-10 on 3-point attempts. "It's tough for a freshman to play in this kind of venue for his opening game," Leckie said. "I don't think he shot particularly well, and he took some ill-advised shots. At least he had the guts to take them. He's not going to back down. In years to come, he's going to be a heck of a player for us."
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