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DALLAS (AP) -- Xavier's defense always seems to pick up its
offense. And with the Musketeers staring at a double-digit deficit
in the first half, the defense saved the day again.
With Romain Sato and Lionel Chalmers turning up the defensive
pressure in the second half, the No. 7-seeded Musketeers rallied to
beat Hawaii 70-58 in the first round of the West Regional.
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Thad Matta has to be happy with his team's second-half performance -- they got to the winners' circle even with David West in foul trouble. Hawaii build up a 40-28 lead in the first half but it was brick-city-USA in the second half.
Predrag Savovic had a super performance with 26 points for Hawaii but in the end, Xavier's defensive intensity in the second half was the difference maker. Romain Sato had 18 points and 10 rebounds for a key double-double.
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Sato had 18 points and 10 rebounds, and Chalmers forced Hawaii's
guards into a spate of turnovers as the Musketeers overcame a
12-point first-half hole.
"We were on the verge of getting run out of the gym,"
first-year Xavier coach Thad Matta said. "(Hawaii) is a rhythm
team, and we took them out of their rhythm."
Sato's 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer pulled Xavier (26-5) to
40-33 at the break, and he kept making big plays in the second
half. It was Xavier's first win in the tournament since beating
Vanderbilt in 1997 in the first round.
The Musketeers next play No. 2-seeded Oklahoma, which beat
Illinois-Chicago 71-63.
Hawaii (27-6) missed its first 11 shots of the second half, when
Xavier went on a 11-1 run to take its first lead since the opening
minutes.
Warriors guard Phil Martin hit a 3-pointer with 11:37 left to
end the cold streak, but Xavier continued to roll. The Musketeers
took a 58-48 lead -- their largest of the game -- with just over 4
minutes left on Kevin Frey's fallaway jumper as he tumbled to the
court.
Hawaii continued its struggles in the game's closing minutes,
missing on 3-pointers and even clanging layups off the side of the
basket.
Meanwhile, Xavier sealed the victory by making 12 of 14 free
throws in the final 1:19. Chalmers finished with 15 points, six
rebounds, six assists and five steals. David West added 13 points
and 11 rebounds.
"It's something we've done all year long. When we try to match
baskets with teams, we can't do that," West said. "The way we
played in the second half is how we win games, how we've been doing
it all year."
Hawaii scored more points in the last three minutes of the
second half (10) than in the first 17 (eight).
In the first half, led by Savovic's 16 points, Hawaii shot 48
percent from the field, including 5-of-11 on 3-pointers.
Hawaii took its biggest lead at 40-28 on Carl English's
3-pointer with about 3 minutes left in the half.
But Xavier started its rally before the break, and Savovic
struggled with Sato's defense in the second half. Savovic didn't
score until a 3-pointer with 5:25 left in the game. He finished
with 26 points, mostly on buckets in the closing minutes.
"It's not that the shots didn't go down, it was the shots we
were taking," Savovic said. "Coach told us not to take them, and
for whatever reason, we didn't listen."
Hawaii has been on the road since leaving Honolulu on Feb. 26
for road games and then the Western Athletic Conference tournament.
After winning the conference title last Saturday, the Warriors flew
to Dallas on Monday to prepare for the game against Xavier.
"These kids are tired," Hawaii coach Riley Wallace said. "To
turn it up when they had to, they just couldn't reach down and get
that extra little bit. We just seemed to be drained."
The loss put the finishing touches on a season in which Hawaii
won a school-best 27 games. The Warriors are now 0-4 in NCAA
Tournament appearances.
Xavier entered Friday's game coming off a win over Richmond in
the Atlantic 10 tournament title game. The Musketeers have now won
nine of their last 10 games. | 
