To a Louisianian, the name Xavier on the LSU men’s basketball team’s schedule probably doesn’t inspire much enthusiasm.But as New Orleans Hornets forward  and former Musketeer David West would say, this is Xavier of Ohio (16-2, 5-0), not Xavier University of Louisiana. The  No. 15 Musketeers will be LSU’s first ranked opponent of the season when the two teams square off Saturday at 7 p.m. in the PMAC. LSU’s last home game against a ranked foe was a 47-45 loss Feb. 9 against No. 7 Tennessee. But the Tigers’ 2007-2008 season was already over at that point, as the loss to Tennessee gave LSU a 1-7 record in conference play.The last time the Tigers played meaningful games against ranked teams may have been December 2005 and January 2006 when LSU posted convincing victories against No. 6 Texas A&M and No. 18 Connecticut, respectively.But Saturday’s matchup has fans and faculty alike excited.”Our team is playing above even what some people expected going in,” said Chancellor Michael Martin. “[LSU coach] Trent [Johnson] has brought them a long way in a short time, and that has people genuinely excited.”Students have packed the 3,000 allotted seats for the team’s past two home games. Team spokesman Kent Lowe said the PMAC has “less than 1,700” tickets remaining for the game, but “a sellout doesn’t include the student seating.””They’re on fire,” said Justin Alfred, mechanical engineering junior. “If they play defense like they did [Wednesday] night, they might be able to do something … A loss wouldn’t be devastating, but a win would be outstanding … I’m coming for the chance that they might win.”Coming off a 13-18 season and a two-year postseason draught, the Tigers face a program that has reached the NCAA tournament seven of the last eight years, including two Elite Eight runs, under coach Sean Miller. “Obviously there’s a lot of rich tradition with their basketball program,” Johnson said. “This is a basketball team that’s very skilled. They’re good basketball players. They’re very mentally tough. It’s what you expect from a team that’s had a lot of postseason experience.”Xavier presents a challenge greater than anything LSU (15-3, 3-1) has faced this season. The Musketeers are No. 6 in Ratings Percentage Index, a power ranking. Their strength of schedule is No. 10 nationally. LSU’s slate ranks No. 220. And Xavier’s visit couldn’t come at a better time for LSU. The Tigers are fresh off their third consecutive conference win, averaging 83 points a game.The team shot an average of 50.2 percent from the field in the  poundings of South Carolina, Ole Miss and Mississippi State.”Our execution has been pretty good, and maybe we caught some teams at the right time,” Johnson said. “One of the things with this group early on was that I thought their basketball IQ was a little better than I had heard … we’ve got six guys that can pass and catch the ball, and that’s a start.”As good as the offenses have been, both teams field strong defenses. The Tigers sit at No. 2 in the Southeastern Conference in scoring defense, allowing just 61.1 points per game. Xavier’s ‘D’ ranks No. 3 in the Atlantic 10 Conference, averaging 61.9.Temple said “it’s the perfect time for this game.””Any non-conference game, or when you’re playing a top-25 team after December is big,” he said. “Even if we have a slipup it still won’t count against our conference record which is good. This is good just to test us and see who we are.”    —-Contact David Helman at [email protected]