By John Fay
The Cincinnati Enquirer

ORLANDO, Fla. - Lionel Chalmers wasn't being boastful. It just sounded that way.

Chalmers, Xavier's fifth-year senior guard, was explaining what happened once he got into the offensive flow Sunday against Mississippi State.

"There's really not too many things you can do to me when I'm out there making shots," Chalmers said.

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Photos from Xavier game

Mississippi State, the No. 2 seed in the Atlanta regional, learned how true that was Sunday in an 89-74 loss to seventh-seeded Xavier in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Chalmers scored a career-high 31 points on 11-of-13 shooting.

The pressure of the postseason can swallow up some players, Chalmers instead is eating it up.

Sunday was the latest big game in his March run. Chalmers assured Xavier of an NCAA bid with his MVP performance in the Atlantic 10 Tournament. He's been much better in the NCAA. Chalmers averaged 28 points and shot 73 percent in Xavier's two NCAA wins in the Orlando sub-regional.

"If this is not my time, then I'm not going to have a time," he said. "I just wanted to come out and make the most of every minute on the floor. What I do in my 40 minutes on the floor ... I don't want to regret anything. That's the way I've been playing it."

You can make the argument that Xavier's season turned when Chalmers hit the 18-foot fadeaway jumper that beat UC 71-69 on Feb. 3.

Before the win in the Crosstown Shootout, the Muskies were 10-9 and Chalmers was leading the club in boos.

It's debatable which was more important to the Musketeers' turnaround: Chalmers' shot against UC, or his comments in a players-only meeting on Jan. 31. But this is a fact: Sunday's win was XU's 15th in 16 games.

Chalmers' points Sunday came the usual way for him. That is to say he hit a couple of shots like the one against UC, he made a couple of layups after dribbling his way into the tall trees of the lane, and he hit some long 3-pointers.

The game didn't start out like the game of Chalmers' life. Through five minutes, he had contributed two turnovers and one missed shot to the Muskie cause.

Matta talked to Chalmers during a timeout.

"They were keying on him early," Matta said. "We talked in the timeout about him staying patient. He did, and he carried us in."

Chalmers has been described as many things, but patient is not one of them. Chalmers' game runs on kinetic energy. If the shot's not there, he'll put it there by taking his guy off the dribble.

When Mississippi State pushed out to a 23-13 lead, XU turned to the Chalmers' page in the playbook.

"We ran a couple of plays to get me open and find guys," Chalmers said. "If no one's open, I can create my own shot."

He scored 11 points in Xavier's 21-10 run that put the team up at halftime.

"Coach told me to remain patient and it would come my way," he said. "I remained patient. (Then) I felt the urge and I hit a couple of shots. It felt good, so I hit a couple of more."