By Dustin Dow
The Cincinnati Enquirer

PHILADELPHIA - Even the star player is allowed an off night once in a while, as long as another star steps up.

David West didn't put up the outstanding numbers that have become his norm, but it didn't matter as No. 14 Xavier got plenty of production from the rest of the team to post a 93-71 road victory over La Salle Wednesday night. It was XU's 10th straight victory.

The Explorers' zone defense surrounded West, minimizing his touches and forcing other Xavier players to take most of the shots. Junior Romain Sato finished with a career-high 35 points, helping keeping Xavier on track for its Atlantic 10 first-place showdown at Dayton on Saturday.

The 25th-ranked Flyers (19-4, 11-1) defeated Richmond 70-63 Wednesday and lead Xavier by a half-game in the A-10 standings. The Musketeers (19-4, 10-1) defeated the Flyers 85-77 Feb. 8 at Cintas Center.

"They doubled Dave every time," Sato said of the Explorers. "We kept moving the ball and kicking it out and started hitting our outside shots. That's all we do."

In West's offensive absence, junior center Anthony Myles scored 12 first-half points as Xavier took a 47-32 halftime lead. La Salle didn't allow West to take a shot until the 11:25 mark, when he fought for position and completed a three-point play. He later picked up a loose ball and dunked, giving him five first-half points.

West finished with 12 points and six rebounds, missing out on a bid for an 11th straight double-double. He reinjured his right index finger in the first half on a rebound but came back to play.

Myles had 17 points and 12 rebounds, a career high. Lionel Chalmers added 13 points for the Musketeers.

La Salle's game plan, forcing everyone but West to shoot, contrasted with what Dayton tried 11 days earlier when West scored a career-high 47 points against a man-to-man defense.

"You choose your poison against Xavier," La Salle coach Billy Hahn said. "You either let West get 47 like he did against Dayton, or you play off some people. We gambled and they made some big shots."

Xavier has shown it can adjust. Its success against the zone Wednesday (51.7 shooting percentage) helped erase some of the stigma about the Musketeers having trouble against zone defenses.

Sato especially excelled. Coming off a 34-point, nine-3-pointer game against Rhode Island Saturday, Sato made five 3-pointers, the majority against a sagging zone in the second half. Sato has scored 69 points in the last two games, shooting 14-of-25 from 3-point range.

Two months ago, the formula for success against Xavier was to play a zone. Mississippi State won after using one to force XU into a 35 percent shooting performance Dec. 14. Stanford did the same in a win Nov. 20. Wednesday's game showed the progress the Musketeers have made since then.

"That was a huge priority even in the preseason," Xavier coach Thad Matta said. "We spend time every day working against zones, and we're getting better at it."

E-mail ddow@enquirer.com

Xavier	M	FG	Att	FT	Att	R	A	F	TO	TP
Sato	39	10	17	10	10	9	1	2	0	35
Myles	28	7	16	3	4	12	1	1	1	17
West	37	4	7	4	7	6	4	1	1	12
Chalmers	35	3	6	4	4	1	4	3	3	13
Finn	21	1	3	0	0	0	0	2	2	3
Smith	3	0	0	0	0	1	2	1	0	0
Jackson	24	4	8	0	0	2	0	3	1	8
Christiansen	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
Caudle	11	2	2	1	1	2	0	1	1	5
Caldwell	1	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0
Totals	200	31	60	22	26	37	16	15	9	93

Team rebounds - 3.

La Salle	M	FG	Att	FT	Att	R	A	F	TO	TP
Jones	14	1	2	0	0	2	0	2	0	2
Larkai	25	3	6	0	0	3	0	5	1	6
Baptiste	27	1	1	1	2	4	0	2	0	3
Thomas	32	3	16	0	0	6	4	2	3	6
Neal	35	13	24	4	4	4	1	2	3	37
Farmer	11	0	2	0	0	0	0	2	0	0
Quadri	14	3	4	0	0	3	1	0	1	7
Cleaves	13	2	5	0	0	3	1	3	3	4
Simmons	9	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	0
Bell	20	3	12	0	2	7	0	2	1	6
Totals	200	29	72	5	8	36	7	21	12	71

Team rebounds - 3.

Xavier	47	46	-93
La Salle	32	39	-71

3-pointers - XU 9-19 (Sato 5-11, Chalmers 3-5, Finn 1-2, Caldwell 0-1), L 8-27 9Jones 0-1, Thomas 0-7, Neal 7-14, Quadri 1-2, Cleaves 0-1, Bell 0-2). Technicals - None. Officials - Lindsey, Corbett, Connolly. Attendance - 2,714.