Xavier-Charlotte Preview

2/12/2008 1:22 PM

By JEFF MEZYDLO
STATS Writer

Xavier is not about to take things easy despite having a slight cushion atop the Atlantic 10.

The 12th-ranked Musketeers look to maintain their two-game lead in the conference while trying to remain undefeated against host Charlotte on Wednesday night.

Xavier (20-4, 8-1) won 76-72 over St. Joseph's on Sunday in a matchup of the A-10's top teams. The victory was the Musketeers' 12th in 13th contests and increased their lead over the Hawks and Rhode Island in the league.

"It's a real big win for us, but we're not going to look at it like we've got breathing room now,'' said point guard and leading scorer Drew Lavender, who had 12 points Sunday. "We're going to keep it up.''

The win also pushed the Musketeers to their highest raking since they were 12th in the final poll of 2002-03.

"The one thing this team has done a good job of is never really putting the cart before the horse,'' said coach Sean Miller, whose team has road games remaining against Rhode Island, Dayton and St. Joseph's. "Our focus right now is to compete for the conference championship. I think everybody understands the best way to do that is to be very consistent every day. We've done that the whole way through.''

Sunday, though, marked the second consecutive game Xavier blew a double-digit lead before winning late.

Stanley Burrell led another balanced effort with 16 points, and made two clinching free throws with 13 seconds left after B.J. Raymond's 3-pointer with 45 seconds remaining put the Musketeers up for good.

Senior Josh Duncan had 13 points while Raymond finished with 11 for the Musketeers, who won 70-68 at St. Louis on Thursday on Derrick Brown's tip-in with less than a second left.

"That's how unselfish we are,'' said Lavender, whose 12.2 points per game leads six Xavier players averaging at least 10.3 per contest. "Nobody cares who takes the big shot. We just want to win.''

Xavier shot 56.6 percent - its best in conference play - but couldn't hold a 14-point lead Sunday. The Musketeers, however, scored the last eight points of the game for the win.

On Wednesday, Xavier looks to improve to 5-0 versus Charlotte (14-8, 5-3), which is 10-2 at home.

Lavender matched a career high with 31 points, while Burrell had 25 as the Musketeers shot 63.6 percent in a 91-57 home win over Charlotte on Feb. 3, 2007 in the most recent meeting.

The 49ers won 87-83 at St. Bonaventure on Saturday to avoid a third straight loss. Leemire Goldwire had a career-high 39 points and hit eight 3-pointers after being held to 13 points on 3-for-25 shooting in his previous two contests.

"He's willing to take big shots and he's willing to take the responsibility," 49ers coach Bobby Lutz said of the 5-foot-11 senior who averages a team-leading 19.7 points. "He stands up and he doesn't just hope it happens. He works at it and he makes it happen. He's special."

Goldwire is averaging 13.3 points in three games versus Xavier, but was held to four on 1-for-7 shooting in the last meeting.