WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Lionel Chalmers, the Xavier player identified a week prior by Miami coach Charlie Coles as “the MVP of that team,” was one of its biggest liabilities Wednesday.

        XU's junior point guard hadn't practiced all week after spraining an ankle Saturday at San Francisco, and he couldn't get his game going in the 70-66 loss at Purdue.

        He missed his first nine shots, including five 3-point tries, before making a meaningless three with two-tenths of a second left. He was benched with 10:29 left in the second half, with XU facing its biggest deficit at 51-39, and re-entered with 2:28 left only to have the Musketeers falter in the clutch.

        Chalmers had three turnovers and three assists.

        “I was a little overanxious due to the fact my ankle was feeling a little better,” Chalmers said. “I got off to a bad start, and I couldn't turn it around.”

        He wasn't the only one struggling with his shot. Romain Sato was just 2-of-10, missing all seven 3-point tries, and Dave Young was 1-of-5 (0-of-3 on threes) and was benched in favor of Keith Jackson.

        All three had recently had big games: Chalmers had a career- high 23 points against Missouri, Sato scored 23 at San Francisco, and Young had a career-high 19 points in the USF game.

        “Unfortunately, Lionel wasn't into it tonight,” XU coach Thad Matta said. “But give those guys credit for their defense.”

        Chalmers didn't sulk when Matta replaced him with freshman Jaison Williams, who led XU's 16-3 run.

        “I was on the bench because I wasn't playing well,” Chalmers said. “But I was cheering my (butt) off from the bench. It's a team game.”

        NOT SO HOT:

        XU's David West said his was the better team and that the Musketeers hurt themselves by focusing too much on this game.

        “We were looking at them like, "They're from the Big Ten; it's a huge game,'” West said. “We gave them way too much respect. I don't feel anyone on their team is better than anyone on our team.”

        A-10 LEADERS:

        XU entered play Wednesday leading the Atlantic 10 in scoring margin (plus-15.8 ppg), rebound margin (plus-10.3 avg.), 3-point shooting (40.6 percent), free throw shooting (75.3 percent) and blocked shots (5.0 avg.).

        X-FILES:

        West's 31 points eclipsed his prior career high of 29, set a week prior at Miami. With his 11th point Wednesday, he became the 38th member of XU's 1,000-point club. . . . Walk-on James Baronas again subbed in the post, suggesting Anthony Coleman has fallen out of the rotation.

        UP NEXT:

        XU plays host to Long Island at 7:30 p.m. Saturday; tickets are still available. The Blackbirds are 0-4 after losing to Yale 90-54.

       Xavier 3036—66 Purdue 3238—70

        Attendance—11,973. 3-point goals—XU 4-23 (Frey 2-5, Young 0-3, West 1-2, Chalmers 1-6, Sato 0-7), Purdue 3-18 (Smith 0-5, Kilgore 1-4, Parkinson 0-1, Lewis 1-6, Marshall 1-2). Technical fouls—Purdue (bench). Officials— Art McDonald, Joe Demayo, Glenn Maydoro.

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