David West gets fouled. (AP photos) | ZOOM |

        CLEVELAND - There can no longer be any doubt whose team this is. David West is carrying Xavier toward the NCAA Tournament.

        XU rode its sophomore center to another quality victory Saturday night, beating Kent State 71-60 in the Rock 'n Roll Shootout at Gund Arena. As its other offensive options remain inconsistent, it has found West to be steady and strong.

        West totaled 22 points, a career-high 17 rebounds and four assists Saturday, his sixth double-double of the season and fourth in five games.

        “It's no secret anymore,” West said of XU's offensive strategy. “Right now the guys are just making a greater effort to get me the ball. Everyone can see that.”

        West's 10.4 rebounding average leads the Atlantic 10, and his 15.6 scoring average leads the Musketeers (9-2). He has averaged 21.2 points and 12 rebounds over the past five games.

        “He's "zoning' right now,” XU sophomore guard Lionel Chalmers said. “We keep going to him, and he keeps converting.”

Lionel Chalmers | ZOOM |

        It's more than muscle. West has become the team's unquestioned leader, just 44 games into his college career. He barks encouragement to his teammates, rallies them in the locker room, lightens their mood off the court.

        “He's defining his role more this year,” Chalmers said. “Last year he was just a freshman, so maybe it wasn't his time yet. But now he's coming out and taking charge of things.”

        The critical stretch Saturday was the first 7¹/₂ minutes of the second half. XU's

        43-32 halftime lead nearly disappeared when KSU (7-4) used a 7-0 run to cut the lead to four points.

        But West powered in for a bank shot, stuck back a teammate's miss and converted a 3-point play, made two more free throws, and converted another 3-point play after sinking a 12-footer while being tripped.

        He was the Musketeers' only scorer in that stretch, and when it ended XU still led by nine points.

        “That was one of our better mental and physical displays of resolve this season,” XU coach Skip Prosser said. “They had the run, but the guys were cognizant of the groove David was in, and they kept getting him the ball.”

Maurice McAfee | ZOOM |

        West tries to dismiss his play.

        “I could care less if I'm scoring two points or 22, as long as we're winning,” he said. “It just happens to be me that's been scoring a lot lately. I credit my teammates for the passes they're making to me.”

        Prosser had pounded home the point in preseason that XU must look inside-out on offense this year, emphasizing West above all other options. It took a month for XU to strike the right balance.

        “That's on us,” Chalmers said. “When we want to start inside-out, we do. It's just up to us to look inside and make smart passes.”

        XU junior forward Lloyd Price came up big down the stretch, scoring nine of his 13 points in the final 12 minutes. The Musketeers made 12 consecutive free throws in the last seven minutes to help ice the game.

        The Musketeers all got into the act early, shooting .464 from the field in the first half and breaking from their season-long drought in 3-point shooting. They made 7-of-14 from behind the arc in the first half, belying the league-worst .273 shooting from 3-point range they owned before the game.

        “The reason we shot threes so well in the first half was David kicking the ball out to the perimeter,” Prosser said. “They collapsed down on him, and that meant we had open shots outside.”

        The victory may further XU's hopes of cracking the Associated Press Top 25 for the first time in more than two years. XU was last ranked at No. 23 in the AP poll on Nov. 30, 1998.

        XU received the 32nd-most votes in the AP poll this week. The last time XU was on the verge of cracking the poll, when it had the 28th-most votes about this time last year, it lost an 18-point, second-half lead at Marquette and lost its chance at a ranking.

Tournament atmosphere good for Musketeers

XAVIER (71)
                      fg    ft    rb
               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tp
Frey            24   1-5   4-6   0-4  0  4    7
Price           30   2-6  9-10   0-4  1  2   13
West            37  6-12 10-13  5-17  4  2   22
Sato            27   3-5   1-2   2-4  1  3    8
Mcafee          37   2-5   4-4   1-4  5  3   10
Chalmers        27   3-7   0-0   0-1  0  2    8
Young            4   1-2   0-2   0-0  0  2    3
Mason            1   0-0   0-0   0-0  0  0    0
Butler          13   0-4   0-0   2-4  0  2    0
_______________________________________________
TOTALS         200 18-46 28-37 10-38 11 20   71
_______________________________________________


Percentages: FG-.391, FT-.757. 3-Point Goals:
7-18, .389 (Frey 1-3, Price 0-1, Sato 1-3, Mcafee
2-5, Chalmers 2-4, Young 1-2). Team rebounds: 3.
Blocked shots: 2 (Price, West). Turnovers: 15
(Mcafee 8, Chalmers 2, Price 2, Butler, Frey).
Steals: 5 (Price 3, Frey, Mcafee).


KENT STATE (60)
                      fg    ft    rb
               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tp
Massey          30  5-15   2-2   1-7  1  2   14
Bedford         21   1-3   0-0   2-4  1  3    2
Warren          15   3-4   0-0   1-1  0  5    6
Mitchell        24  5-11   2-2   0-2  5  5   13
Huffman         25  2-11   2-2   2-3  3  3    6
Shaw            29   3-9   4-5   5-8  0  3   11
Haut            12   1-3   0-0   0-1  0  0    3
Perry           30   1-5   0-2   1-6  1  5    2
Edwards         14   1-2   1-4   2-3  0  1    3
_______________________________________________
TOTALS         200 22-63 11-17 14-35 11 27   60
_______________________________________________


Percentages: FG-.349, FT-.647. 3-Point Goals:
5-20, .250 (Massey 2-6, Bedford 0-1, Mitchell
1-3, Huffman 0-4, Shaw 1-3, Haut 1-2, Perry 0-1).
Team rebounds: 3. Blocked shots: 5 (Edwards 3,
Perry 2). Turnovers: 13 (Huffman 4, Massey 3,
Perry 2, Warren 2, Mitchell, Shaw). Steals: 8
(Massey 3, Shaw 3, Haut, Perry).
__________________________________
Xavier             43   28  -   71
Kent State         32   28  -   60
__________________________________
Technical fouls: Xavier 1 (Mcafee).  Kent State 1
(Mitchell).  A: 10,993. Officials: Terry Moore,
Gerry Pollard, Kevin Mathis.

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