By Dustin Dow
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Xavier's Romain Sato drives the ball against Coppin State's Nicholas King. (Mike Simons photo) | ZOOM |

It could have been an ugly, nail-biting season-opening win, but Xavier University turned on the defensive pressure in the second half Saturday night and held on for a not-so-pretty but effective win against Coppin State.

In doing so, the Musketeers (1-0) advanced to the semifinals of the Dell Black Coaches Association Classic at 8 p.m. today. They demonstrated why preseason pundits have labeled Xavier a guard-oriented team after Xavier's perimeter players filled the scoring column in the 62-37 win before 9,987 at Cintas Center.

Fifteen of Xavier's first 18 points came on 3-pointers from Romain Sato and Lionel Chalmers, who combined to score 20 of Xavier's 33 first-half points.

"It was huge," Xavier coach Thad Matta said of the early 3-point barrage. "It gave us a little bit of a boost there out of the gates and gave us a little bit of confidence."

Sato finished with 24 points and nine rebounds, while Chalmers scored 12. Sato, an All-America candidate, became Xavier's all-time leading 3-point shooter when he made his 237th career 3-pointer late in the second half, giving Xavier a 56-35 lead. It was his fifth 3-pointer of the game.

As a team, Xavier shot 11-of-23 from long range with Sato, Chalmers and Dedrick Finn making all 11 3s.

Xavier's post players, however, combined to score just 10 points on 2-of-14 shooting from the field.

Xavier Coach Thad Matta shouts encouragement during their game with Coppin State. (Mike Simons photo) | ZOOM |

"We weren't very fluid in what we were trying to get done on offense," Matta said. "We had good shots. Our big guys didn't shoot particularly well tonight, but I've got confidence that they can get that done."

The Musketeers increased their interior defense in the second half, allowing just 15 points, enabling Xavier to build a good lead.

"Coach has been stressing defense a lot," Chalmers said. "That's one of the things we've been working on. ... Every day in practice, that's all we hear about is defense, defense, defense."

Matta continued to search for the best lineups and combinations on the floor. Finn regained his starting spot at point guard and played 18 first-half minutes after Keith Jackson had started both exhibition games.

Ten Xavier players saw 10 minutes or more of playing time.

Freshman Justin Cage came off the bench in the first half and became the first Xavier player other than Sato or Chalmers to score when he drove the lane for a layup with just under eight minutes to go in the half.

Tonight, Xavier will play Mercer, winner of a last-second thriller Saturday against Ohio University.

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E-mail ddow@enquirer.com

Coppin St.	M	FG	Att	FT	Att	R	A	F	TO	TP
King	23	0	9	1	3	1	2	2	1	1
Green	30	3	9	2	2	8	0	1	4	8
Colter	20	0	4	0	0	0	1	2	0	0
Norman	20	1	6	1	2	4	1	2	1	4
Scott	25	1	3	0	0	3	0	2	2	3
Otis	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
Muhammed	15	0	2	0	0	0	1	0	3	0
Yates	18	5	6	0	1	10	0	5	2	10
Bradley	11	2	5	0	0	4	0	2	0	4
Jones	12	1	7	0	0	2	0	1	1	2
Boykin	24	2	7	0	0	5	2	3	1	5
Totals	200	15	59	4	8	37	7	21	15	37

Team rebounds - 0.

Xavier	M	FG	Att	FT	Att	R	A	F	TO	TP
Caudle	22	1	4	4	6	7	0	1	0	6
Myles	24	1	6	1	4	1	1	2	2	3
Chalmers	21	4	10	1	2	5	4	2	2	12
Sato	32	8	13	3	6	9	2	1	1	24
Finn	30	3	6	0	0	3	6	1	1	9
Cage	17	1	3	2	2	2	0	2	0	4
Smith	10	0	3	1	2	0	0	0	0	1
Doellman	16	0	2	0	2	3	1	3	2	0
Jackson	16	0	1	3	4	5	0	0	2	3
Christiansen	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0
Cole	10	0	1	0	1	1	0	0	1	0
Totals	200	18	49	15	29	40	14	12	11	62

Team rebounds - 3.

Coppin St.	22	15	-37
Xavier	33	29	-62

3-pointers - CS 3-14 (King 0-3, Green 0-1, Colter 0-1, Norman 1-1, Scott 1-1, Muhammed 0-1, Boykin 1-5), XU 11-23 (Chalmers 3-7, Sato 5-8, Finn 3-6, Doellman 0-2). Technicals - None. Officials - Cofer, Ayers, Schnur. Attendance - 9,987.

Xavier vs. Mercer

Tipoff: 8 p.m. today

Radio: WLW-AM (700).

TV: None.