By Dustin Dow
The Cincinnati Enquirer

The fact that Xavier scored its 99th point on Angelo Smith's dunk with 5 1/2 minutes to go in Sunday's 114-72 exhibition win against the Upstate Basketball All-Stars was just one piece of evidence concerning the level of defensive competition.

(Smith, an energetic rebounder, is not normally an offensive option, and certainly not before the final media timeout.)

There was also the Musketeers' 26 assists, 17 offensive rebounds and a 61.5 first-half shooting percentage. And the five XU players who scored in double figures.

All in all, the Muskies shouldn't expect a similar game when they face Coppin State in Saturday's regular-season opener.

"I wish it was the way we were playing," Xavier coach Thad Matta said of his team's offensive output. "But the defense has a lot to do with it. It will come to a screeching halt on Saturday, because Coppin State just doesn't play real fast."

When it became obvious Sunday's game would be a blowout, Matta challenged his defense to hold its opponent to less than 75 points.

Anthony Myles, who finished with 17 points and seven rebounds, said the team isn't quite where it wants to be defensively.

"We've still got some work to do on that."

The Musketeers were hampered somewhat by a lack of scouting, so players had to adjust to the Upstate Basketball All-Stars' best shooters as the game progressed.

Xavier had no such problems scoring, particularly in the backcourt, where Lionel Chalmers finished with 25 points, and Romain Sato added 21. Dedrick Finn and Justin Doellman came off the bench to score 15 and 10 points, respectively.

But Matta is a defensive-minded coach, and is naturally more inclined to focus on that part of the game.

"We weren't as aggressive as we needed to be," Matta said. "They got the ball inside the paint and we just sorta let them spin, turn and go up and score."

COLE RECOVERING: Freshman forward Brandon Cole did not play Sunday and is still recovering from a shoulder injury sustained in Friday's practice. He will be held out of practice for a couple days. It is likely he'll return for Saturday's game.

RECRUITING NEWS: Xavier has verbal commitments from three high school seniors who can sign national letters of intent when the signing period begins Wednesday.

• Moeller's Josh Duncan, Churchill Odia of Montrose Christian (Maryland), and Stanley Burrell of Hargrave Military (Virginia) Academy are each expected to sign during the early period, but could wait until the late period, which begins in April.

• Ben McCauley, a junior small forward from Herminie, Penn., made an unofficial visit to Xavier over the weekend, but did not stay for Sunday's exhibition game.

• Xavier's women's team is also expecting to sign three players Wednesday: Brittny Picconi of Horizon (Colo.) High School, Betsy Snead of Campbell County (Wyo.) High School and Candyce Bingham of Louisville DuPont Manual High School.

320 All-Stars	M	FG	Att	FT	Att	R	A	F	TO	TP
Wilkins	9	3	6	0	0	2	0	2	0	6
Locklier	24	3	5	3	3	3	0	4	1	9
Cofield	33	3	10	0	0	3	3	2	0	9
Morton	31	3	11	4	4	2	3	3	3	12
Graham	26	6	12	1	1	4	0	4	1	16
Campbell	15	2	8	0	0	1	0	0	0	5
Crooks	12	1	5	2	2	4	0	3	2	4
Deane	17	1	4	2	2	0	1	1	2	5
Deas	18	2	5	1	2	2	4	3	2	6
Johnson	15	0	1	0	0	3	1	1	2	0
Totals	200	24	67	13	14	27	12	23	13	72

Team rebounds - 3.

Xavier	M	FG	Att	FT	Att	R	A	F	TO	TP
Myles	28	7	11	3	5	7	1	0	0	17
Jackson	21	2	7	2	2	5	0	0	1	6
Caudle	27	4	7	0	0	6	2	3	1	8
Chalmers	26	8	15	5	5	3	6	2	2	25
Sato	24	8	13	2	2	9	2	1	1	21
Cage	17	2	4	2	2	5	4	2	2	6
Smith	17	3	6	0	0	7	1	2	0	6
Finn	20	5	6	3	4	1	6	1	2	15
Doellman	16	3	5	2	5	4	4	2	0	10
Christiansen	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Compton	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Team	200	42	76	19	25	49	26	13	11	114

Team rebounds - 2.

320 All-Stars	41	31	-72
Xavier	64	50	-114

3-pointers - 320 AS 11-31 (Cofield 3-7, Morton 2-8, Graham 3-5, Campbell 1-5, Crooks 0-1, Deane 1-4, Deas 1-1), XU 11-23 (Jackson 0-1, Chalmers 4-6, Sato 3-7, Cage 0-2, Finn 2-2, Doellman 2-3, Christiansen 0-1, Compton 0-1). Technicals - None. Officials - N/A. Attendance - N/A.