By Dustin Dow
The Cincinnati Enquirer

David West rebounds against Stanford. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

STANFORD, Calif. - There will be no Thanksgiving in New York for the Xavier Musketeers. They missed a chance to play in the Preseason NIT semifinals in Madison Square Garden by losing to Stanford 63-62 in the second round Wednesday night.

The loss not only will hurt No. 11 Xavier's national ranking, it prevents the Musketeers from potentially playing teams like No. 7 Florida and No. 2 Kansas in New York that would have increased the Musketeers' strength of schedule.

"Of course, we missed an opportunity tonight," said senior guard Lionel Chalmers, who led Xavier with 20 points. "But we're going to bounce back. We will be back."

Chalmers scored six of Xavier's final nine points, hitting a two-pointer to pull the Musketeers within one with 12 seconds left. But after Stanford inbounded the ball at its own end, the Cardinal quickly passed the ball upcourt and the Musketeers weren't able to foul and stop the clock.

"I don't think our guys realized how good Stanford was," Xavier coach Thad Matta said. "We have to be able to handle those situations better."

Preseason All-America David West had 19 points but none of them came easily as Stanford's zone swarmed around him whenever he got the ball. And Stanford's big men controlled the boards, outrebounding Xavier 37-28. Romain Sato had 10 rebounds and West eight, but the Cardinal completed several second-chance scoring opportunities.

Coach Thad Matta (AP photo) | ZOOM |

"I don't think we were as ready as they were," Chalmers said. "They hit the boards. They had five guys crashing every time. We had to make up for how we played in the first half."

Stanford built a nine-point halftime lead by limiting Xavier to 38 percent shooting in the first half. Dave Young and Chalmers led an early second-half comeback, but Stanford never let Xavier go up by more than one point, and the Cardinal made key free throws in the final minute to secure the win.

Xavier found out firsthand why Stanford has only lost one non-conference game at home since 1994. The Maples Pavilion crowd of 5,127 was deafening from the start, and Xavier players looked uncomfortable on the court, which shakes because of springs designed to ease tension on players' legs.

"The court really didn't bother us because we practiced on it for two days," said Sato, who scored 13 first-half points, but finished the game with just 15. "In the game we just didn't stay together as a team."

Lionel Chalmers vies for the ball with Stanford's Justin Davis. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

Stanford's defense limited Xavier's offense to Sato and West (12) in the first half. Chalmers had six.

Stanford broke open an 8-8 game by going on an 11-5 run, capped by a spinning lay-up by Josh Childress, who scored 13 first-half points on 5-of-7 shooting.

Xavier's defense struggled to combat Stanford screens, and the Cardinal connected on 54 percent of its first-half shots and led by 11 with 40 seconds left in the half. A West dunk closed the gap to 42-33 going into the locker room.

Xavier outscored Stanford 11-1 to open the second half and take a 44-43 lead, but a propensity for turnovers kept the Musketeers from making any more runs.

With 9:45 left, Anthony Coleman pulled the Musketeers within 50-49 when he banked in a 3-pointer as the shot clock sounded after a scramble. Then Sato gave Xavier a 51-50 lead on a driving lay-in their next time down the floor.

But Stanford went ahead for good on two free throws by Julius Barnes with 7:17 left.

Stanford center Rob Little rebounds. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

Xavier committed 14 turnovers and had just six assists. Chalmers had three assists but had the most turnovers with five.

Stanford's ability to get its hands on loose balls kept Xavier from settling into a smooth offensive game.

"By knocking the ball loose, we got a chance to go back to our zone defense," said Stanford coach Mike Montgomery. "Our zone is designed to surprise people who aren't used to it."

The Musketeers shot 40 percent (18-of-45), but only 6-of-20 (30 percent) from 3-point range. And they got only eight points from players not named Chalmers, West or Sato.

Barnes scored 14 points for Stanford, including two free throws with 27 seconds left. Childress also finished with 14 after managing only one free throw in the second half.

E-mail: ddow@enquirer.com

The Associated Press contributed to this report.