By Joe Kay
The Associated Press

They still had New York on their minds.

Smarting from a one-point loss in the Preseason NIT, 11th-ranked Xavier took out its frustrations on Florida A&M, beating the overmatched Rattlers 93-64 on Sunday.

Then, the Musketeers (2-1) went back to thinking about their heartache.

A loss at Stanford on Wednesday night cost Xavier a chance to play for the Preseason NIT title at Madison Square Garden this week. The lopsided win Sunday didn't get rid of the disappointment.

"You kind of want to get past that, but it's hard to let that one go," said David West, who had 19 points and 12 rebounds. "We know we really screwed up a great opportunity for this team, this school and this program."

Before pregame warmups, point guard Lionel Chalmers gathered his teammates in a walkway leading to the court. He stressed the importance of a good showing in light of the last game.

"We have to play hard," he said emphatically. "We have to bounce back."

They came out running full-throttle, just as Florida A&M (0-1) feared they would.

Rattlers head coach Mike Gillespie became one of Xavier's biggest fans as he watched the Musketeers' nationally televised game at Stanford. He didn't want to play them coming off a loss.

"I was the Musketeer with a sword at home the other night, cheering," Gillespie said. "How happy are these guys? They could have gone to New York, watched the parade, seen Bullwinkle the Moose. Now they're in Cincinnati freezing. Where would you rather be?"

Florida A&M would rather be somewhere else, too.

The Rattlers will stay in town to play No. 23 Cincinnati on Tuesday, opening their season with two ranked teams on the road in three days. To compound their problems, they lost point guard Moses White, who sprained his left ankle only a minute into the game and didn't return.

"He's one guy we have who's athletic enough to compete at their level," Gillespie said. "My other guys tried hard."

Florida A&M returns four starters from a team that went 9-19 last season. The Rattlers didn't get much out of their marquee player - 6-foot-10 center Jermaine Hill missed both of his shots, failed to get a rebound and had two fouls as Xavier pulled ahead 49-24 in the first half.

Five players reached double figures as Xavier took control early by pushing the pace, and didn't let up. Chalmers and Romain Sato added 16 apiece, and Dave Young and Anthony Myles each scored 10.

Chalmers dribbled through a full-court press for a layup that got Xavier rolling. He also had a pair of assists in a 12-3 spurt that gave the Musketeers control.

Coach Thad Matta started guard Dedrick Finn instead of Young, looking to get more speed in the lineup. Xavier ran a fastbreak whenever possible, catching the Rattlers flatfooted as they switched defenses.

Unable to get anything inside, the Rattlers spread the floor against Xavier's man-to-man defense, putting four shooters on the perimeter to fire away. They were 9-of-25 on 3-point tries and had 21 turnovers.

Dominique Jackson led Florida A&M with 20 points. Nearly half of the Rattlers' shots (25-of-57) came from behind the 3-point arc.

The 93 points were Xavier's highest total since a 108-57 win over Long Island last Dec. 8, a span of 29 games.

FLORIDA A&M (64)

                          fg    ft    rb             
                   min   m-a   m-a   o-t   a  pf   tp
M Griffith          32  4-11   0-0   1-3   1   5    9
M Ayodele           23   2-8   0-0   0-0   1   3    5
J Hill              24   2-6   2-4   2-3   0   2    6
M White              1   0-0   0-0   0-0   0   0    0
D Wilkins           32   5-7   2-2   0-3   3   1   14
D Jackson           28  7-11   2-2   0-1   1   3   20
N Ross               7   0-3   0-0   1-2   0   1    0
J Kelly             20   3-6   0-0   1-2   0   0    7
B Zamore             8   0-0   0-0   0-2   1   0    0
A Cisse             14   0-3   2-2   0-1   2   2    2
O Sumter            11   0-2   1-2   2-4   0   2    1
  
_____________________________________________________
TOTALS             200 23-57  9-12  7-21   9  19   64
_____________________________________________________

Percentages: FG-.404, FT-.750. 3-Point Goals:
9-25, .360 (M Griffith 1-4, M Ayodele 1-7, D 
Wilkins 2-4, D Jackson 4-7, N Ross 0-2, J 
Kelly 1-1). Team Rebounds: 2. Blocked Shots: 
1 (A Cisse). Turnovers: 21 (D Jackson 5, D 
Wilkins 4, J Hill 3, A Cisse 2, O Sumter 2, M
Griffith 2, B Zamore, M White, M Ayodele). 
Steals: 6 (J Hill, N Ross, M Griffith, D 
Jackson, B Zamore, M Ayodele).

XAVIER (93)

                          fg    ft    rb             
                   min   m-a   m-a   o-t   a  pf   tp
D Finn              27   1-2   4-5   0-6   7   2    6
D West              32  5-12  9-10  4-12   4   1   19
W Caudle            15   3-5   1-1   1-2   0   3    7
L Chalmers          28   5-8   3-4   0-0   6   0   16
R Sato              29  6-12   3-3  6-12   2   1   16
A Smith             10   0-3   0-0   2-2   0   0    0
D Young             12   3-6   2-2   2-3   0   2   10
A Coleman            6   0-0   0-0   3-3   0   2    0
A Myles             17   5-8   0-1   1-3   0   0   10
K Jackson           15   4-6   1-1   2-3   1   1    9
K Christiansen       3   0-1   0-0   1-1   0   0    0
R Caldwell           4   0-3   0-0   0-1   0   0    0
T Compton            2   0-2   0-0   0-0   0   0    0
  
_____________________________________________________
TOTALS             200 32-68 23-27 22-48  20  12   93
_____________________________________________________

Percentages: FG-.471, FT-.852. 3-Point Goals:
6-20, .300 (D West 0-1, L Chalmers 3-5, R 
Sato 1-7, D Young 2-4, R Caldwell 0-2, T 
Compton 0-1). Team Rebounds: 2. Blocked 
Shots: 4 (D West 2, K Jackson, A Smith). 
Turnovers: 19 (D West 4, D Finn 4, R Sato 3, 
W Caudle 2, L Chalmers, K Christiansen, A 
Myles, K Jackson, D Young, A Coleman). 
Steals: 10 (D West 2, D Young 2, K Jackson 2,
A Coleman, W Caudle, D Finn, A Myles).


-----------------------------------
FLORIDA A&M          24  40   -  64
XAVIER               49  44   -  93
----------------------------------- 

Technical fouls: None. A: 10,250. Officials: 
Jackie Sanders, John Larocca, Steve Turner