Sunday, December 29, 2002
Xavier 84, Eastern Kentucky 60
West thrashes teammates for lack of teamwork
By Dustin Dow
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Xavier may have easily disposed of Eastern Kentucky 84-60 Saturday night at a sold-out Cintas Center, but All-American forward David West said there is still plenty wrong with the 21st-ranked Musketeers (8-2) three days before they play No. 18 and undefeated Creighton.
After the game, West questioned his team's decision making and effort, and suggested some players might be thinking more about themselves than the team.
That won't cut it, West said, against Creighton and No. 1 Alabama, which Xavier plays on the road Jan. 4.
"We're not playing together at all," West said. "That's obvious. The village idiot could see that. We've got guys on this team that won't pass to certain guys, won't rebound if they're not getting the ball, won't screen if they're not getting the ball."
Coach Thad Matta concurred that Xavier has some problems but said it's not as bad as West described.
"We're 8-2," Matta said. "Right where we want to be."
But he said Xavier would need more of a team effort against Creighton and Alabama.
"In the game of basketball, I've yet to see a championship team when one guy wins it for them," Matta said.
West said he would talk to the team about coming together as a unit.
"Right now we've got guys with their own agendas," West said. "For whatever reason, coach is having to motivate guys just to play defense and pump guys up just to set screens.
"I take some of the blame, and some of the older guys on the team can shoulder some of the blame, just because it's our team, and we're supposed to be the leaders."
Saturday, EKU (5-5) never threatened Xavier, but the Musketeers did commit 18 turnovers with 18 assists. Four players scored in double figures, led by Romain Sato, who showed further signs of breaking out of his slump. Sato shot 7-of-13 for 23 points.
Eastern Kentucky cut the lead to 16 at 59-43 in the second half before Xavier scored seven straight points, culminating with a Lionel Chalmers' 3-pointer. Chalmers finished with 12 points.
West had 13 points and 13 rebounds. It marked his 52nd career double-double, the most among active Division I players.
Centers Anthony Myles and Will Caudle each scored in double figures, Myles with 14 points and Caudle with 10.
Now Xavier must prepare for what could be its toughest two-game stretch of the season against Creighton (9-0) and Alabama (9-0). Last season Xavier narrowly defeated Creighton in Omaha, 72-65, while Creighton was without its best player, Kyle Korver, the defending Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year.
So far this season, Creighton is the only team that has defeated No.8 Notre Dame on Nov.26.
"Before people really didn't know a lot about us," Korver said. "We kind of snuck up on Notre Dame. That probably won't happen against Xavier."
West said Korver could be one of the best players in the country, and that Xavier better be ready.
"We know we'll be in for a fight," West said. "Especially after what happened last year, they'll have revenge on their minds."
Creighton and Alabama are likely to have Xavier's full attention as the Musketeers look for their first win of the season against a ranked opponent. In the only other game against a Top 25 team, Xavier lost 71-61 on Dec. 14 against then No.24 Mississippi State.
"We beat Siena, we beat Eastern Kentucky," West said. "If we think we can win on Tuesday against Creighton, we're just setting ourselves up (for a loss)."
E-mail ddow@enquirer.com
EASTERN KY (60)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
K Dix 33 6-12 2-2 0-1 1 5 15
J Bentley 11 1-1 2-2 2-3 0 1 4
C Slaughter 17 3-8 0-0 0-5 0 4 6
B Rushing 13 0-4 0-0 0-1 0 1 0
M Witt 37 3-16 0-0 1-4 4 3 6
A Newton 5 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 3 0
S Fields 33 6-15 5-7 3-9 1 3 18
M Haney 9 0-2 2-2 0-4 0 0 2
D McPherson 21 3-4 0-0 1-4 2 3 6
T Volpenhein 21 0-6 3-4 3-5 0 2 3
_____________________________________________________
TOTALS 200 22-68 14-17 10-36 8 25 60
_____________________________________________________
Percentages: FG-.324, FT-.824. 3-Point Goals:
2-15, .133 (K Dix 1-2, B Rushing 0-2, M Witt
0-6, S Fields 1-5). Team Rebounds: 3. Blocked
Shots: 2 (M Witt, D McPherson). Turnovers: 16
(J Bentley 3, S Fields 2, M Witt 2, T
Volpenhein 2, C Slaughter 2, D McPherson 2, B
Rushing, K Dix, M Haney). Steals: 8 (K Dix 2,
S Fields, A Newton, C Slaughter, D McPherson,
M Haney, T Volpenhein).
XAVIER (84)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
R Sato 31 7-13 4-6 2-10 2 1 23
D West 31 4-8 5-7 2-13 4 4 13
A Myles 24 6-11 2-5 3-8 0 2 14
L Chalmers 33 3-8 4-8 1-4 6 1 12
D Finn 31 2-4 0-0 1-3 6 2 6
A Smith 9 1-3 2-2 1-3 0 3 4
D Young 7 0-2 0-0 0-1 0 2 0
K Jackson 18 0-1 2-2 0-0 0 2 2
W Caudle 16 3-5 4-4 1-3 0 2 10
_____________________________________________________
TOTALS 200 26-55 23-34 11-45 18 19 84
_____________________________________________________
Percentages: FG-.473, FT-.676. 3-Point Goals:
9-19, .474 (R Sato 5-11, L Chalmers 2-3, D
Finn 2-3, D Young 0-2). Team Rebounds: 2.
Blocked Shots: 3 (D West, K Jackson, D Finn).
Turnovers: 18 (L Chalmers 4, D West 4, R Sato
3, A Myles 3, D Finn 3, D Young). Steals: 2
(L Chalmers, R Sato).
-----------------------------------
EASTERN KY 22 38 - 60
XAVIER 44 40 - 84
-----------------------------------
Technical fouls: None. A: 10,250. Officials: Eric
Anderson, Jim Jenkins, Ken Clark
