SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco's warmup jerseys read “We play hard” on their backs. Yet they met a Xavier team Thad Matta has promised will be the hardest-playing in the country.

        The XU coach saw his team deliver a second straight knockout punch, flooring host San Francisco 87-72 Saturday night. As they did last Wednesday at Miami, the Musketeers (3-1) shot well and controlled the boards, and looked every bit as intense against the Dons (1-4) as they did in their ballyhooed showdown with Missouri a week prior.

        “Coach has been trying to instill that, to play hard every game,” junior Dave Young said. “We want the "W', we don't care who it's against.”

        With USF intent on slowing XU center David West, who scored a career-high 29 points against Miami, XU took advantage of the freedom to shoot from the outside by hitting 10-of-22 3-pointers (45.5 percent) — including nine 3s in the first 21 minutes — part of a 50-percent shooting night overall.

        XU had shot 60 percent, including 10-of-18 on 3-pointers (55.5 percent), in its 29-point victory at Miami.

        Sophomore Romain Sato totaled 23 points, nine rebounds and three assists Saturday, making 5-of-7 3-pointers, to earn game MVP honors. That represented the second-highest scoring total of his career.

        “They came out in a zone (defense), and coach said we've got to attack the zone,” Sato said. “That's probably the best first half that we've had.”

        Young totaled a career-high 19 points and five rebounds. West added 20 points, five rebounds and three assists.

        XU outrebounded the Dons 39-26. It had 20 assists and just 12 turnovers.

        With 17 pro scouts credentialed, most on hand to watch West, the Dons packed into a zone defense designed to blanket him. It took nearly 12 minutes before West attempted a shot inside the 3-point line. Last Wednesday, XU took 14 1/2 minutes to do the same.

        XU attempted 10 3-pointers in the first 12 minutes Saturday, making four, and kept firing even when West got a few more touches later in the half. The Musketeers made five 3-pointers in a row in a span late in the first half and early in the second and stood 9-of-18 from that range at that point. It's little wonder that spelled a 54-36 lead.

        “If they want to double-down on Dave West, we have to hit the 3-pointers,” Sato said.

        USF applied the same defensive strategy last year against XU, faring no better: XU shot 12-of-27 (44.4 percent) from 3-point range in a 75-49 victory. The 12 3-pointers fell just two shy of the single-game school record.

        XU's 3-point aptitude the past two games is an aberration. XU had made just 25 percent (6-of-14) of its 3-point tries entering the Miami game, and that followed a season in which its .303 shooting from that distance was its worst 3-point mark ever.

        The Musketeers took a 7-0 lead in the first 69 seconds Saturday, and USF was never again closer than five points. It was still just 24-18 when West got his first shot inside the 3-point line, and his conventional 3-point play began XU's extended run.

        The Dons cut the deficit from 18 points to 12 early in the second half, but they would get no closer. The lead grew to 23 points with eight minutes remaining.

        XU is 2-0 on the road after going 7-5 in such games last year. XU has won nine of its last 12 away games, a turnaround from a stretch that saw it win just six of its previous 22 road contests.

        Entering play Saturday, West led the Atlantic 10 in rebounding (12.3 avg.), field-goal percentage (.694) and blocked shots (3.7 avg.), and his scoring average of 22.3 points ranked third.

        XU led the league in scoring margin (+16.0), scoring defense (57.0 ppg), rebounding margin (+9.3) and blocks (5.3 avg.). Its defensive field-goal percentage of 38 percent ranked second to UMass' 34.9 percent.

        West entered the USF game having scored in double figures in 26 consecutive games.

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