By Dustin Dow
The Cincinnati Enquirer

ORLANDO, Fla. - Xavier University players put an emphatic stamp Sunday on what is fast becoming arguably the best season in school history.

For 14 years since 1990, Xavier could only watch as other mid-majors such as Tulsa, Gonzaga and Kent State upset college basketball's power balance by making improbable Sweet 16 and Elite Eight runs.

Xavier, meanwhile, elevated itself beyond mid-major status with steady overall growth, but the Musketeers' only trip beyond the second round of the NCAA Tournament remained with the 1990 team that reached the regional semifinals.

That is, until Sunday.

PHOTO GALLERY

Photos from Xavier game

Xavier's early round NCAA Tournament exits ended with an 89-74 win over No. 2 seed Mississippi State (26-4) at T.D. Waterhouse Centre.

It was Xavier's eighth straight win and was reminiscent of the dominating style the Musketeers (25-10) have played in the last two weeks since toppling then-unbeaten Saint Joseph's March 11.

"I told Thad this," Mississippi State coach Rick Stansbury said of his conversation with Xavier coach Thad Matta after the game. "If they continue to play like they did today, they will win the national championship. They're the best team we've played all year, and we've played some good teams."

Xavier used a second-half 3-point barrage and active interior defense to open up a two-point game with 10 minutes to play. Sophomore Dedrick Finn put the closing touches on the game when he buried a 3-pointer 3 feet beyond the line with 3:44 to play that gave Xavier a 75-63 lead and forced Mississippi State to begin fouling. Finn finished with a career-high 22 points off the bench and hit a half-court shot just before the halftime buzzer that gave Xavier a 34-33 lead.

Senior Lionel Chalmers played one of his best games in four years at Xavier, and scored a career-high 31 points on 11-of-13 shooting with four 3-pointers.

He and senior Romain Sato are playing in their fourth straight NCAA Tournament, but have never advanced this far.

"I think no other team deserves this like we deserve it," Chalmers said. "We've been through a whole lot. I've been through a whole lot in my four years here. We deserve everything that we're getting right now. We've been here forever. No one lays it on the line more than Sato and Lionel."

Xavier will play No. 3 seed Texas on Friday in Atlanta in the regional semifinals. Coincidentally, Texas defeated Xavier in the same round in 1990; the furthest Xavier has ever gone in the NCAA Tournament.

Xavier players figured last year was going to be the year they finally got back to the Sweet 16, what with a No. 3 seed and the national player of the year in David West. Those dreams ended quickly with a loss to defending champion Maryland in the second round. Now, as a No. 7 seed, Xavier defeated a No. 2 seed for the first time.

"Four years to get to this point and I'm happy," said Sato, who finished with 12 points and seven rebounds. "Last year I was upset. Me and Lionel talked about it (Saturday) night after dinner. We said we've been in the second round three years straight and we always lose. This year, we wanted to make something special."

Two months ago, Xavier was creating something more along the lines of disastrous after a 10-9 start with four returning starters from last season.

Players and coaches heard criticism from all sides - fans, media and each other. A 21-point loss to George Washington on Jan. 28 inspired Chalmers to verbally tear into his teammates, and Xavier has won 15 of 16 games since defeating Cincinnati Feb. 3.

"I think people said, 'Well, it was the David West show for four years and now they've become less relevant,' " Xavier athletic director Mike Bobinski said. "I think we proved that we're a damn good program. A very good, solid program that's going to be at a high level for a long time. We're not dependant on a guy."

Now, Xavier is about to reap the benefits of being one of just 16 teams with a shot at winning a national championship. Because Sunday's game was an early start, it was televised nationwide as the only Tournament game being played at the time.

"It certainly is not going to hurt in terms of exposure this whole next week," Bobinski said. "In our wildest dreams, we couldn't buy that kind of exposure for the school, the program, everything that we're trying to get done."

Xavier	M	FG	Att	FT	Att	R	A	F	TO	TP
Cage	17	1	3	1	1	2	2	1	1	3
Doellman	28	5	10	1	1	8	3	4	4	13
Myles	31	3	7	2	4	14	1	2	2	8
Chalmers	40	11	13	5	6	2	2	2	4	31
Sato	40	4	10	2	2	7	2	2	1	12
Finn	36	6	9	5	9	1	3	1	1	22
Jackson	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Christiansen	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Cole	8	0	3	0	0	2	1	2	0	0
Caudle	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Compton	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Totals	200	30	55	16	23	38	14	14	13	89

Team rebounds - 2.

Miss. St.	M	FG	Att	FT	Att	R	A	F	TO	TP
Roberts	35	4	11	2	4	7	0	0	1	11
Power	38	6	11	1	2	3	2	4	0	16
Vincent	25	4	10	3	6	12	1	5	3	11
Bowers	37	6	14	1	2	1	5	3	1	15
Frazier	33	3	13	3	4	9	1	4	1	12
Ervin	18	3	8	3	3	2	5	2	2	9
Buse	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Slater	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Stelmach	3	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Campbell	9	0	3	0	0	3	0	3	0	0
Totals	200	26	72	13	21	40	14	21	8	74

Team rebounds - 3.

Xavier	34	55	-89
Mississippi St.	33	41	-74

3-pointers - XU 13-19 (Cage 0-1, Doellman 2-4, Chalmers 4-4, Sato 2-3, Finn 5-7), MS 9-26 (Roberts 1-2, Power 3-6, Bowers 2-7, Frazier 3-9, Ervin 0-1, Stelmach 0-1). Technicals - None. Officials - Hall, Corbett, Shows. Attendance - N/A.

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E-mail ddow@enquirer.com