Xavier's David West shoots over Kent State's Bryan Bedford and Anthony Wilkins (back). (Brandi Stafford photo) | ZOOM |

        Xavier's new coaching staff isn't hung up on offensive numbers. The coaches may not dwell on the fact the Musketeers shot a season-worst 35.1 percent in their 62-56 victory Thursday over Kent State.

        That's because the point of pride resided in the other side of the box score, which showed the Golden Flashes shooting 26.1 percent (18-of-69). It was the lowest total anyone has shot against XU since Duquesne shot 25 percent (14-of-56) in a 67-41 Musketeer victory on March 12, 1993.

        “That's the type of defense this team is capable of playing,” XU coach Thad Matta said.

        The star of the night was XU junior center David West, who shrugged off his ankle injury to record another double-double with 19 points and 13 rebounds — 13 of his points coming after halftime. Otherwise, the offense was forgettable.

        “As poorly as we played offensively, the guys continued to make plays on the defensive end,” Matta said.

        This team is gradually growing in Matta's mold. His coaching style is built around strong defense, and XU (6-3) is putting up numbers to show it. It is the Atlantic 10 leader in scoring defense (61.0 ppg), a statistic in which XU has never led the league.

        In fact, XU never ranked better than sixth in the A-10 in scoring defense until last year, when its 65.9 average was second to Temple's 63.9. Then-coach Skip Prosser had begun the gradual transformation into a blue-collar team that has come even more to fruition this season.

        XU is allowing just 39-percent shooting by its opponents, ranking second in the A-10 to Massachusetts' 38.2 defensive percentage. The Musketeers allowed 40.6 percent shooting last season, their finest mark in 39 years.

        At Butler last year, Matta's team allowed just 60.8 points per game, the ninth-best scoring defense in the nation.

        XU needed every bit of its defensive effort Thursday because the Golden Flashes (4-4) never trailed by more than 10 points. They closed within five points twice in the last four minutes, fell further behind, then closed within four points with 29 seconds left. But Kevin Frey made two free throws, and the lead was safe.

        West had his ankle taped but didn't wear a brace. He wasn't very active early, but he moved more freely as the night went on and started calling for the ball. He added three blocks, three assists and a steal.

Xavier's Lionel Chalmers gets foulded by Kent State's Andrew Mitchell. (Brandi Stafford photo) | ZOOM |

        “At the beginning, I was kind of timid, not wanting to roll (the ankle),” West said. “As the game went on, I stopped thinking about it. It's fine.”

        Said Matta: “David West tonight was sensational. Once again, he let the game come to him.”

        West had scored in double figures in 30 consecutive games before finishing with nine points last Friday when he sprained his right ankle against Cincinnati.

        XU's sterling defense Thursday followed its worst showing, when UC shot 53.4 percent against it.

        “We determine that,” XU guard Lionel Chalmers said. “One night we come out and we're not as in tune on defense as we should be. So we need to lock down and play defense like this all the time.”

        The key defender was Romain Sato, who hounded KSU star Trevor Huffman into 4-for-21 shooting.

        “Romain didn't shoot well (2-of-10), but his defense was off the charts,” Matta said.

        XU's top scorers after West were Dave Young (12 points) and Chalmers (11).

KENT STATE (56)
                      fg    ft    rb
               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tp
Bedford         11   2-4   0-0   0-1  0  4    4
Thomas          10   1-3   0-0   1-1  1  2    3
Gates           37  3-16   6-6  5-13  1  3   14
Huffman         37  4-21   2-2   0-3  9  2   12
Wilkins         18   0-3   0-0   2-6  0  1    0
Gerwig          21   0-0   0-1   3-5  0  4    0
Shaw            23   1-6   1-2   4-6  1  4    3
Mitchell        32  5-13   2-2   2-6  1  1   14
Haut             7   2-3   0-0   0-0  0  0    6
Edwards          4   0-0   0-0   0-0  0  0    0
_______________________________________________
TOTALS         200 18-69 11-13 17-41 13 21   56
_______________________________________________


Percentages: FG-.261, FT-.846. 3-Point Goals:
9-27, .333 (Thomas 1-2, Gates 2-5, Huffman 2-9,
Wilkins 0-1, Shaw 0-2, Mitchell 2-5, Haut 2-3).
Team rebounds: 46. Blocked shots: 4 (Gates 2,
Thomas, Edwards). Turnovers: 15 (Mitchell 4,
Gates 3, Huffman 3, Gerwig 2, Wilkins 2, Shaw).
Steals: 7 (Huffman 3, Gates 2, Wilkins 2).


XAVIER (62)
                      fg    ft    rb
               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tp
Frey            33   3-8   3-4   2-6  1  4    9
Young           22  5-10   0-1   1-4  0  3   12
West            39   6-9   6-9  2-13  3  1   19
Chalmers        37  3-14   3-6   2-7  4  3   11
Sato            37  2-10   5-5   2-6  0  5    9
Williams         4   0-2   0-0   0-0  0  0    0
Brown           15   1-2   0-0   0-2  2  2    2
Jackson         13   0-2   0-0   0-2  0  0    0
_______________________________________________
TOTALS         200 20-57 17-25  9-40 10 18   62
_______________________________________________


Percentages: FG-.351, FT-.680. 3-Point Goals:
5-23, .217 (Young 2-6, West 1-1, Chalmers 2-8,
Sato 0-5, Williams 0-2, Brown 0-1). Team
rebounds: 43. Blocked shots: 5 (West 3, Young,
Sato). Turnovers: 14 (Chalmers 6, Brown 2, Frey
2, Young 2, Sato, West). Steals: 7 (Chalmers 2,
Young 2, Brown, Frey, West).
__________________________________
Kent State         24   32  -   56
Xavier             24   38  -   62
__________________________________
Technical fouls: None.  A: 10,250. Officials:
Mike Sanzere, John Larocca, Frankie Bordeaux.

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