Keith Jackson dunks. (Craig Ruttle photo) | ZOOM |

By Joe Kay
The Associated Press

When senior point guard Lionel Chalmers broke his foot on Dec. 31, Xavier had a lot of adjustments to make.

The starters had to play a lot more. Everyone's role changed a little. There was the psychological setback of losing a floor leader. It took a few games - and two losses - for Xavier to make the adjustments.

The Musketeers put together one of their best games of the season and beat La Salle 80-47 on Tuesday night, an indication they've gotten past the setback.

"We played unselfishly," said David West, who had 18 points and 15 rebounds in only 28 minutes. "We played within our system. We didn't deviate. We shared the ball and played our brand of basketball."

When Chalmers got hurt, Xavier (11-4, 2-1 Atlantic 10) lost its identity. In the last two games, the Musketeers have gotten it back - tough man-to-man defense, an unselfish offense.

They seem to be jelling again.

Dedrick Finn pressures LaSalle's Jermaine Thomas. (Craig Ruttle photo) | ZOOM |

"I hope so," coach Thad Matta said. "You're in the conference race now, and there's two ways to go. Through everything we've seen, we continue to work hard. That's been the beauty of it."

La Salle (7-6, 1-2) was stunned after its worst defeat since Feb. 9, 2000, a span of 83 games. The Explorers had their lowest score and worst shooting percentage (25.8 percent) of the season.

"We didn't really compete tonight for the first time," LaSalle coach Hahn said. "I don't know why."

Part of the reason was Xavier's tenacious defense and rebounding - Xavier dominated the boards 54-37.

"I think guys know what it takes for this team to be successful," West said. "We need certain things from certain guys. We're rebounding, and teams are struggling with us on the glass. When we shoot, we're getting two or three attempts at the basket. Everything else just falls in behind that."

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