Sato

        PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Xavier coach Skip Prosser had called it put-up-or-shut-up time. There would be no silence Saturday. The Musketeers roared to a 99-82 victory at Rhode Island, hitting two school records and dispelling the dark cloud of their upset home loss to Massachusetts.

        “That's how you get to see where teams are at, when they answer adversity,” junior forward Lloyd Price said. “We came together, and we bounced back.”

        XU (12-3, 3-1 Atlantic 10) tied its single-game record with 14 3-pointers, and freshman guard Romain Sato set a single-game record with eight 3-pointers.

        Sato made eight of 11 from that range and scored a career-high 31 points. He eclipsed the 3-point record 5:13 into the second half and had bettered his previous scoring high — 19 points — within the first 16:19 of the game.

        Prosser called it the finest effort he had ever seen from an XU freshman.

        “I say that because he was trying to guard, and doing other things,” Prosser said. “He wasn't just trying to score.”

        Sato added three rebounds, two assists and a steal with no turnovers.

        The previous XU 3-point record was seven, shared by Jamie Gladden (who did it twice) and Maurice McAfee. XU previously had 14 3-pointers against Clemson on March 23, 1999.

        Sato's point total was the highest of the season by a

        Musketeer and the second-highest ever by an XU freshman. The record is 35 by Darnell Williams against Duquesne on Feb. 24, 1996.

        It was the first 30-point game for a Musketeer since Lenny Brown scored a career-high 34 against Oregon on March 25, 1999.

        “I'm not surprised I shot so much,” Sato said. “Coach told me to shoot. My teammates told me to shoot. When we started, (McAfee) got me two open shots, and I just started making them.”

        It was a big night for multiple Musketeers, and a big night for a team which was averaging 70.7 points per game. XU placed four players in double figures. A team which had been shooting 28.6 percent from 3-point range made half its 28 long-range attempts.

        “We've been saying a lot of it was mental, and tonight they shot with confidence,” XU assistant Jeff Battle said. “We have very good offensive players, and it was great to have a breakout game on the road.”

        Price, who has been inconsistent offensively, scored a season-high 18 points on 6-for-8 shooting. Sophomore guard Lionel Chalmers made four of six 3-pointers in totaling 17 points — two shy of his career high — and didn't commit a turnover.

        “Lloyd hadn't been shooting well, and Lionel hadn't really, either, but it's nice to see guys put in extra time on their shooting and have it pay off for them,” Prosser said.

        David West had another solid line: 17 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks. McAfee had nine assists, six points and six rebounds.

        “When we're all on the same page, we have a chance to be special,” Prosser said.

        XU scored on its first 12 possessions in opening a 24-5 lead. Nine minutes into the game, XU led by 23.

        The Rams (4-12, 0-3 A-10) whittled the deficit to nine early in the second half, but Price scored five points in a 7-0 run which re-established control for XU.

        Junior forward Kevin Frey was held out of the starting lineup because of team policy about not starting if one can't practice. Frey missed Thursday's practice and most of Friday's practice to rest his injured left ankle.

Decision on recruit on hold

XAVIER (99)
                      fg    ft    rb
               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tp
West            34  5-11   7-9  6-11  2  3   17
Price           30   6-8   4-6   0-3  2  3   18
Butler          22   1-3   0-0   1-3  2  5    2
Sato            32  9-13   5-5   2-3  2  1   31
Mcafee          27   3-6   0-0   0-6  9  1    6
Chalmers        25  6-11   1-3   1-4  1  0   17
Frey            10   2-6   0-0   0-0  1  5    4
Young            8   1-7   0-0   1-2  0  0    2
Mcintosh         6   0-3   0-0   2-2  0  0    0
Johnson          1   0-1   0-0   0-0  0  0    0
Brown            2   0-0   0-0   0-0  0  1    0
Mason            3   1-2   0-0   1-1  0  0    2
_______________________________________________
TOTALS         200 34-71 17-23 14-35 19 19   99
_______________________________________________


Percentages: FG-.479, FT-.739. 3-Point Goals:
14-28, .500 (Price 2-3, Sato 8-11, Mcafee 0-3,
Chalmers 4-7, Young 0-3, Johnson 0-1). Team
rebounds: 5. Blocked shots: 6 (West 3, Frey 3).
Turnovers: 9 (Mcafee 4, Price 2, Butler, Frey,
Mason). Steals: 6 (Price 2, Butler, Johnson,
Mcafee, Sato).


RHODE ISLAND (82)
                      fg    ft    rb
               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tp
Scott           25   2-5   2-4   2-3  0  4    6
Marbury         40  9-18   5-8  5-11  6  2   25
Womack          22  6-11   0-0   1-6  2  5   14
Rogers           2   0-0   0-0   0-0  0  0    0
Smith           29   3-6   1-1   0-2  5  1    7
Daniels         38  8-18   2-2   1-1  1  2   21
Wafula          19   0-3   3-4   2-2  0  3    3
Mello           11   1-3   0-0   1-1  0  1    2
Evans           14   1-3   2-2   1-4  1  2    4
_______________________________________________
TOTALS         200 30-67 15-21 13-30 15 20   82
_______________________________________________


Percentages: FG-.448, FT-.714. 3-Point Goals:
7-23, .304 (Marbury 2-8, Womack 2-4, Smith 0-1,
Daniels 3-9, Mello 0-1). Team rebounds: 5.
Blocked shots: 9 (Wafula 4, Womack 3, Scott,
Mello). Turnovers: 10 (Marbury 4, Smith 2, Womack
2, Rogers, Wafula). Steals: 6 (Smith 4, Marbury,
Mello).
__________________________________
Xavier             55   44  -   99
Rhode Island       44   38  -   82
__________________________________
Technical fouls: None.  A: 4,113. Officials: Jack
Sweeney, John Larocca, Ken Clark.

---

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