By Dustin Dow
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Xavier's Dedrick Finn tangles with Ball State's Chris Williams in the first half of their game at the Cintas Center Friday. (Jeff Swinger photo) | ZOOM |

No brawls or fights broke out, but the incident between Dedrick Finn and Ball State's Chris Williams at the end of Friday's game almost sparked what would have been an ugly scene.

No. 21 Xavier led by the final score of 87-58 with less than 30 seconds remaining when Ball State took possession. Williams elected to dribble out the clock near half court and share some words with Finn, who was guarding him. Finn, tired of waiting for something to happen and listening to Williams, stole the ball with three seconds left and raced toward the opposite baseline. Williams, clearly upset that Finn showed him up, tackled Finn as time expired.

"I got bored of standing there," Finn said. "I wanted to do something exciting. He didn't like that, so he tackled me at the end for no reason."

The two players immediately got up and argued face to face before their teammates came in and separated them.

"There was a lot of talking," Finn said. "A lot of talking. I think I kind of lost my temper a little bit."

Finn said he probably should not have gone for the steal, but that didn't give Williams an excuse to tackle him, Finn said. Williams was not called for a foul because time had expired.

The play is likely to be remembered next season when Xavier visits Ball State as part of the home-and-home agreement.

ANGELO ANSWERS CALL: He had registered 14 minutes, four points and five rebounds, appearing in two games all season before Friday night.

But that lack of game experience didn't stop freshman forward Angelo Smith from giving Xavier 18 good minutes when David West fought foul trouble for much of the first half.

Smith doubled his season point total by scoring four points, and he more than doubled his rebound total with six, although. . he made only one of five shots. West was one of Smith's biggest supporters from the bench.

"D. West was telling me to shot-fake," Smith said. "I didn't shot-fake much, I just took it right up. D. West said, 'Just shot-fake and get (defenders) off the floor.'"

Xavier coach Thad Matta said he planned to use Smith because of the way he played in practice, but he didn't expect to have to use him because of West's foul situation.

"I played with a lot of energy (in practice)," Smith said. "After our loss (to Mississippi State), our heads weren't as high, and I just came in and gave a lot of energy."

COMING HOME: Lionel Chalmers will be in familiar territory today when he arrives in Albany, N.Y. for Xavier's game against Siena on Monday. Chalmers played his senior year of high school at Albany High School, scoring 22.4 points a game.

Chalmers, who has become accustomed to doing interviews at Xavier, said the potential extra attention won't be much of a distraction.

"The whole city of Albany knows me," Chalmers said, "but you only get distracted by what you let distract you."

MOVING UP CHARTS: West scored a season-high 24 points against Ball State and moved into ninth-place all time on Xavier's scoring list with 1,643 points. He needs 47 points to tie Nick Daniels for No. 8.

SOLD OUT: Xavier's game against Creighton on New Year's Eve is now a sellout. The first 3,000 fans to show up will receive a free David West bobblehead doll.