Freshman walk-on Keenan Christiansen scored seven points subbing for foul-plagued Dedrick Finn. (Craig Ruttle photo) | ZOOM |

By Dustin Dow
The Cincinnati Enquirer

The defending Atlantic 10 champions taught the new kids on the block a thing or two about home-court advantage Tuesday at Cintas Center.

Xavier won its second consecutive home game and even got a key contribution from its own rookie, rolling past freshmen-led La Salle 80-47. The 33-point margin was the Musketeers' largest of the season since an opening game 87-48 win against St. Peter's Nov.18.

"Xavier is by far the best team we've played this year, bar none," said Explorers coach Billy Hahn. "They're definitely a Top 25 team."

That comes from good preparation, said Musketeers All-American David West.

"We're winning games in practice," he said, "and it's carrying over to the games."

Sub Ryan Caldwell raises his arms to the cheers of the crowd after he was fouled and knocked to the floor. He scored five points. (Craig Ruttle photo) | ZOOM |

West wasted no time establishing himself down low and recorded his 56th career double-double in the first half with 12 points and 11 rebounds. He finished with 18 points, 15 rebounds, six assists and four blocks, setting a new Xavier career record with 198 blocked shots. Aaron Williams, now with the NBA's New Jersey Nets, blocked 197 shots from 1989-93.

Freshman walk-on Keenan Christiansen, playing for the second time in the regular rotation, scored seven points subbing for foul-plagued Dedrick Finn, who logged just eight first-half minutes. A crowd favorite, Christiansen hit a 3-pointer with 9:31 left in the first half that gave XU a 17-11 lead and put the Musketeers in control.

"It was a big shot for us and gave us some energy," said Xavier coach Thad Matta.

David West had 18 points and 15 rebounds. (Craig Ruttle photo) | ZOOM |

Christiansen scored the most points for a Musketeers walk-on since Pat Kelsey scored 10 points in 1996.

Xavier, ranked 23rd in the ESPN/USA Today coaches poll, outscored La Salle 21-8 over the final 10 minutes of the first half and led 38-21 at halftime.

La Salle (7-6, 1-2 A-10) couldn't come back on the road. Three freshman, Steven Smith, Gary Neal and Jermaine Thomas, lead the Explorers in scoring this season, but they combined to shoot 2-for-16 in the first half.

Smith eventually scored 13 points, but La Salle never challenged Xavier (11-4, 2-1) after falling behind early.

Keith Jackson made the blowout interesting in the second half with a pair of breakaway slam dunks and a dunk off an offensive rebound.

Caldwell and West share a laugh after the game. (Craig Ruttle photo) | ZOOM |

Jackson, who finished with 11 points, is averaging 13.2 points in place of Lionel Chalmers, who broke his foot Dec.31 against Creighton.

Chalmers is walking with a protective boot and is expected back in the lineup at the end of the month.

"We've set the (Feb.1) Richmond game as our target date," said Xavier team physician Robert Burger. "Hopefully, he can be ready for that."

Xavier has recovered from Chalmers' injury

La Salle	M	FG	Att	FT	Att	R	A	F	TO	TP
Smith	30	5	14	4	4	9	1	4	2	16
Larkai	18	3	4	0	0	3	0	3	0	6
Thomas	32	1	6	0	0	1	4	3	3	3
Quadri	13	0	1	0	0	0	0	2	1	0
Neal	23	2	13	2	4	3	1	1	1	6
Farmer	13	0	4	0	0	2	1	2	2	0
Thornton	2	0	1	0	0	1	1	0	0	0
Cleaves	22	1	5	0	0	5	2	2	0	2
Jones	7	0	2	2	2	1	0	0	1	2
Clark	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Simmons	9	1	3	1	1	1	0	2	0	3
Bell	17	3	7	2	2	3	0	2	2	9
Jean-Baptiste	12	0	1	0	1	1	0	3	0	0
Totals	200	16	62	11	14	37	10	24	13	47

Team rebounds: 7.

Xavier	M	FG	Att	FT	Att	R	A	F	TO	TP
Sato	30	3	12	0	0	9	2	2	2	8
West	28	8	14	2	2	15	6	2	0	18
Myles	22	6	13	2	4	8	2	1	1	14
Finn	25	2	5	0	2	2	2	3	2	5
Jackson	35	5	8	1	4	8	4	1	4	11
Smith	17	1	3	4	8	1	0	3	1	6
Christiansen	20	2	5	2	2	1	3	1	0	7
Caudle	18	2	7	2	2	7	1	2	1	6
Caldwell	3	2	3	0	0	1	0	1	0	5
Compton	2	0	2	0	0	1	1	0	0	0
Totals	200	31	72	13	24	54	21	16	11	80

Team rebounds: 1.

La Salle	21	26	-47
Xavier	38	42	-80

3-point goals-La Salle 4-15 (Smith 2-4, Thomas 1-2, Neal 0-3, Farmer 0-2, Jones 0-1, Clark 0-1, Bell 1-2); Xavier 5-17 (Sato 2-8, Finn 1-3, Christiansen 1-4, Caldwell 1-1, Compton 0-1). Officials-Greenwood, Clinton, Cartensen. Attendance-10,250.