The Musketeers, who are ranked 15th by the Associated Press and 16th in USA Today/ESPN coaches' poll, gave La Salle almost no chance to execute its game plan. The Explorers never led - the score, in fact, was never tied - and set a season low for points while trailing by as many as 22 in a 73-53 Atlantic 10 loss at Xavier's Cintas Center.
"We didn't execute what we were supposed to do," said La Salle junior guard Rodney Green, who scored 15 points to share the team scoring lead with junior forward Yves Mekongo Mbala. "The coaches drew up a great game plan. We just didn't execute it."
Xavier (15-2, 4-0), which extended its winning streak to six, had a lot to do with that, Explorers coach John Giannini said.
"To say they're impressive is an understatement," Giannini said of the Musketeers, an Elite Eight team last season. "They're big, they're skilled, they're strong. They're trying hard to compete at the highest level. They've been there, and they're trying to get there again."
The Explorers allowed Xavier to shoot a red-hot 60 percent (15-for-25) while shooting just 34.6 percent (9-for-26) themselves and committing 10 turnovers in the first half, which ended with La Salle scoring just 22 points, matching their season low for points in a half.
From the very beginning - literally - the Explorers looked tentative against the Musketeers. La Salle won the opening tip, but 6-9 Xavier forward-center Jason Love, out of Abington Friends, blocked 6-9 junior Vernon Goodridge's short jumper and then La Salle junior guard Ruben Guillandeaux dribbled out the shot clock.
That was the first of three turnovers on La Salle's first five possessions against Xavier's simple man-to-man defense.
"It's not that we don't know what to do," Giannini said. "We know what to do. We just couldn't do against them what we can do against a lot of other teams. They're a bad matchup for us. We can get the ball inside against most other teams. We don't see many guards like B.J. Raymond, who is 6-6 and 220. Usually, our 6-5 guards can get the ball inside. [The Musketeers] are big and physical at a high level."
Green was asked if that first possession left the Explorers saying, "Uh-oh," to themselves.
"We never thought that the whole game," he said. "We just have to put this one behind us and look ahead."
The Explorers, who had won three of their last four games, were losing by 17 at halftime and could never get closer than 12 in the second half. La Salle didn't help itself by shooting a season-low 18.8 percent (3-for-16) on three-point shots. Xavier took its biggest lead, 51-29, when Raymond sank a three-pointer with 15:30 left in the game. That gave the Musketeers six three-pointers, as many at that point in the game as fired up by the Explorers.
As usual, Xavier also had a free-throw advantage. The Musketeers were only 19-for-36 from the line, but they made 10 more than attempted by La Salle (4-for-9). *
