PRINCETON, N.J. — Xavier's new uniforms are black and blue. And so are the Musketeers.

        Despite an early season sense of urgency, XU struggled in the clutch and fell 58-52 Saturday night at Princeton. The Musketeers (5-2) are 0-2 on the road and reeling heading into their visit to archrival Cincinnati on Thursday.

        “My head's spinning right now,” senior guard Maurice McAfee said. “I can't say how, but we're going to get it turned around. We better.”

        Desperate for a road victory, XU coach Skip Prosser broke out the team's new jerseys Saturday. The new look had been saved by the coaches for a motivational ploy, and the need to reverse recent road woes was need enough.

        XU has lost 16 of its last 22 road games, and has trips to UC (3-1), Toledo (5-1) and Fordham (5-1) looming in the next 3 1/2 weeks.

        “Our guys' heads are where you would think they are for being 0-2 on the road,” Prosser said. “They made the big plays against us at the end, and we made mental mistakes. It's tough.”

        Princeton (3-3) had lost four expected starters in the past four months and had looked poor in losses to Lafayette and Monmouth.

        But it shot .472 Saturday and held XU to .341 shooting, rallying from a 50-50 tie to score eight straight points in the clutch.

        XU's David West made two meaningless free throws with four seconds left for the final margin.

        “They did the little things, and the little things add up,” junior Kevin Frey said. “We didn't get good shots off.

        “It's not really the road (that's hurting XU). It's just our attitude, our mentality on the road.”

        Xavier had 13 turnovers and just seven assists, and made just five of 21 3-point tries (.238).

        The Musketeers rallied from a nine-point deficit to take a 38-37 lead with 10:45 remaining, but they would never lead again. They forced three more ties, but mental miscues cost them.

        “We had some big looks where maybe a big shot would have put us over the hump, but they didn't go down,” Prosser said.

        On three late Princeton possessions, XU fouled the Tigers with less than three seconds left on the shot clock. And with 3:38 left, Princeton got four shots on the same possession, converting with an Andre Logan stickback.

        XU trailed 50-47 at that point, then rallied to tie. But West was called for goaltendingto put Princeton ahead 52-50 with 2:24 left. Then XU's Lionel Chalmers threw the ball away.

        Princeton's Kyle Wente made a free throw (53-50), and XU couldn't get a shot until Chalmers launched a well-guarded 3-pointer as the shot clock expired. It missed.

        Princeton's Ahmed El-No kali made two free throws with 56 seconds left: 55-50. Frey tried a long 3-pointer, which missed, and the game was essentially over.

        “We've got to stick together and we've got to execute down the stretch,” McAfee said.

        “And it starts in practice. There's mistakes we make in practice that carry over to the game. We've got to nip that in the bud.”

        Princeton made nine of 21 3-point tries (.429).

        West led XU with 18 points and 11 rebounds. McAfee added 11 points, four assists, four rebounds and three steals.

        XU had been successful in going to West, who was 5-for-6 from the field, but his last points before the last-second free throws came with 10:45 left.

        “We made a conscious effort to get the ball to the blocks, but they did a good job surrounding David,” Prosser said. “We didn't make them pay the price.”

        XU will take today off, then have three days of practice before meeting UC. Neither the players nor Prosser could talk about the Bearcats.

        “We're not looking at the schedule,” Frey said. “But I know we'll bounce back from this.”

Frey's fortunes tied to Muskies'
Crosstown Shootout preview
Crosstown Shootout week schedule

XAVIER (52)
                      fg    ft    rb
               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tp
Chalmers        31   0-6   2-2   1-5  0  2    2
Frey            32   3-8   0-0   0-1  0  4    8
Sato            26   2-4   2-2   2-4  0  2    8
Mcafee          38  4-11   2-2   0-4  4  1   11
West            39   5-6  8-10  6-11  1  3   18
Young            7   0-1   0-0   0-0  1  1    0
Brown            5   0-1   0-0   0-1  0  0    0
Price           20   1-7   3-6   2-3  1  5    5
Butler           2   0-0   0-0   0-0  0  0    0
_______________________________________________
TOTALS         200 15-44 17-22 11-29  7 18   52
_______________________________________________


Percentages: FG-.341, FT-.773. 3-Point Goals:
5-21, .238 (Chalmers 0-3, Frey 2-6, Sato 2-4,
Mcafee 1-6, Young 0-1, Price 0-1). Team rebounds:
2. Blocked shots: 3 (Sato, West, Butler).
Turnovers: 13 (West 4, Frey 2, Mcafee 2, Butler,
Chalmers, Price, Sato, Young). Steals: 6 (Mcafee
3, West 2, Sato).


PRINCETON (58)
                      fg    ft    rb
               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tp
Persia          14   0-2   0-0   0-1  1  2    0
Baah            17   0-3   1-2   2-2  0  4    1
Chapman         35   2-5   2-2   0-1  4  1    8
Bechtold        20   4-6   4-5   0-1  1  2   16
Walton          33   4-7   0-0   0-6  3  4   10
Wente           26   1-3   1-4   0-4  2  1    3
El-nokali       25   2-3   5-5   0-0  1  2   10
Logan           22   3-6   2-2   1-5  0  3    8
Wysocki          8   1-1   0-0   1-2  1  0    2
_______________________________________________
TOTALS         200 17-36 15-20  4-22 13 19   58
_______________________________________________


Percentages: FG-.472, FT-.750. 3-Point Goals:
9-21, .429 (Persia 0-2, Baah 0-1, Chapman 2-3,
Bechtold 4-6, Walton 2-4, Wente 0-2, El-nokali
1-2, Logan 0-1). Team rebounds: 1. Blocked shots:
5 (Walton 2, Logan 2, Wente). Turnovers: 12
(El-nokali 4, Persia 3, Walton 3, Baah, Chapman).
Steals: 5 (Chapman 2, Wente 2, Persia).
__________________________________
Xavier             25   27  -   52
Princeton          29   29  -   58
__________________________________
Technical fouls: None.  A: 4,405.

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