By Dustin Dow
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Xavier has no intentions of sharing anything, especially a conference championship.

Though the 11th-ranked Musketeers have secured the No. 1 seed in next week's Atlantic 10 Tournament, Xavier must defeat Temple today at Cintas Center to avoid sharing the best A-10 record with Dayton. For the Muskies, it may be difficult to swallow the label "co-champions" considering Xavier (23-4, 14-1) defeated Dayton twice this season and the Flyers did not have to play their final game after St.Bonaventure forfeited its final two games. Dayton finished its regular season 21-5 and 14-2 in the league.

"We don't want to share," said senior David West, who will play in his final home game and see his No. 30 jersey number retired before the game. "We're going to get stingy and try to get this win."

It is a bit of a sore subject around the Xavier program that the Musketeers' biggest in-conference rival will be the team that benefits most if XU loses to Temple. That serves as extra motivation for Xavier, looking for its 15th consecutive win today.

"We don't share here at Xavier," said guard Lionel Chalmers. "We want it ourselves. We want the whole thing. I don't know what's going on with the A-10 and (Dayton) not playing the last game, but even with all that, we're in control of our own destiny."

To avoid any conference-championship controversies, Xavier must handle a Temple team that has won eight of its last nine games, including six in a row. It is quite a turnaround from the injury-hampered team that lost its first five games of the season but now stands 13-13 overall and 10-5 in the A-10. A 68-58 win against La Salle on Wednesday gave the Owls a first-round bye in the conference tournament.

At this point, postseason play looks unlikely for Temple unless it is able to make a run through the A-10 Tournament, where a couple wins could land the Owls an NIT bid. Three wins would secure the conference championship and the A-10's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, which the Owls missed last season for the first time since 1989.

But despite the team's shortcomings the last two seasons, Temple is still a respected program with a legendary Hall of Fame coach in John Chaney. And as usual, the Owls are playing their best basketball at the end of the season. But this season, Temple is making more news with its offense than Chaney's famous matchup zone defense.

The Owls are scoring 77.1 points in their last nine games, almost 16 points higher than Temple's 61.3 average in the first 17 games. It comes from a four-guard lineup led by leading scorers David Hawkins (16.5) and Alex Wesby (13.0).

"This could be the best team to come in here all year," said Xavier coach Thad Matta. "The way they are playing right now is as good as anyone in the country."

Matta said there is little chance of Xavier players being distracted despite senior day festivities.

"This is another conference game for us," Matta said. "We have to play 16 (games)."

Xavier is happy to close out the season at home after returning from one of the toughest environments in the conference at Saint Joseph's on Wednesday, where XU had to sneak in the back door of the gym to avoid SJU fans who were waiting for the team bus. Several Xavier players talked about how the noise of the fans in Philadelphia made for an imposing situation.

Xavier will have enough of its own problems dealing with Temple's defense, which limits teams to 63.7 points a game.

"Their zone is tough to play against," West said. "You have to move the ball and attack it. You can't be passive."

Temple's lineup, which features four players between 6 feet 4 and 6-6, means Xavier might bring backup guard Keith Jackson into the game more often for matchup purposes. Freshman Keith Butler, at 7 feet, is the Owls' only true post player among the starting five.

E-mail ddow@enquirer.com

No. 11 Xavier vs. Temple

Tipoff: Noon today, Cintas Center (10,250). Pregame ceremonies for Senior Day will begin at 11:30 a.m. at Cintas Center. Arena doors open at 10:30 a.m. David West's No. 30 will be retired.

Records: XU 23-4 (14-1 Atlantic 10), Temple (13-13, 10-5).

Radio: WKRC-AM (550).

TV: ESPN.

Series: Temple leads 6-5.

XAVIER

Player	Yr.	Ht.	PPG
Lionel Chalmers	Sr.	6-0	11.3
Romain Sato	Jr.	6-5	17.7
Dedrick Finn	Fr.	6-1	7.7
David West	Sr.	6-9	20.5
Anthony Myles	Jr.	6-9	10.7

Coach: Thad Matta (49-10, second season; 73-18 overall).

TEMPLE

Player	Yr.	Ht.	PPG
David Hawkins	Jr.	6-4	16.5
Alex Wesby	Sr.	6-6	13.0
Keith Butler	Fr.	7-0	4.1
Maurice Collins	Fr.	6-5	12.2
Brian Polk	Jr.	6-4	11.2

Coach: John Chaney (463-207, 21st season; 688-266 overall).