By Dustin Dow
The Cincinnati Enquirer

ATLANTA - Consider the party of elites officially crashed.

Xavier broke down an historic barrier Friday that separated the program from the NCAA Tournament's traditional power teams.

PHOTO GALLERY

Photos of Friday's game

Today, Xavier is one game from the Final Four, playing in the regional finals Sunday for the first time in school history.

The seventh-seeded Musketeers (26-10) survived their Sweet 16 game against Texas at the Georgia Dome, winning 79-71, setting up an Elite Eight game against Duke.

Xavier led Texas (25-8) by just one point with 16 seconds to play but converted seven free throws - thanks in large part to two technicals on Texas coach Rick Barnes - while the Longhorns failed to score.

Nearly two months ago, Xavier was one game above .500 and looking at missing the NCAA Tournament. Now, Xavier's best season ever is alive for at least one more game.

"I didn't think we would be here," sophomore Dedrick Finn said of Xavier's second half comeback from a 10-9 start. "I didn't know where we were going to go. It feels great. This is what every team wants to do. Now, we're just rolling."

Xavier has defeated 10th-seeded Louisville, No. 2 seed Mississippi State and now third-seeded Texas in succession.

"I don't know if there's a team left that's had a tougher run than we have," Xavier coach Thad Matta said.

Senior Romain Sato scored 27 points, 14 of them from the foul line. He made three key free throws with 3.9 seconds left after Barnes received two technical fouls for arguing with officials and was ejected from the game. It was clear at that point Xavier would win the game, up by three points with six free throws coming.

"No one knew that we could get to this point," said senior Lionel Chalmers, who scored 14 points with six assists and seven rebounds. "It means more than a team like Duke or teams that are supposed to get there. It means a whole lot for everyone to see how good we can be."

Last season, Xavier ended the NCAA Tournament with a disappointing second-round loss to Maryland.

"The most important thing for our guys," Matta said, "was they believed they could win the basketball game."

Xavier broke open a tie game early in the second half with nine straight points from Chalmers and Sato. Chalmers assisted a Sato 3-pointer that gave Xavier a 53-50 lead with 13:13 left. Then Chalmers caught a long pass from Justin Cage and converted a layup. Sato followed with another layup after a Texas turnover, forcing Texas to call timeout. Chalmers then finished the run with a floating bank shot, and Xavier led 59-50 with 11:26 to play.

"Me and (Chalmers) as seniors, the game is tied up and we need to pick up," Sato said. "We tried to make the plays down the stretch."

Xavier did not trail again, although Texas cut the lead to two points twice and 72-71 with 16 seconds left.

"We stayed focused," Chalmers said. "We're not done. As long as we stay focused, we have a chance to win."

The Musketeers have won nine straight games and 16 of their last 17. They became the Atlantic 10's second team to make the Elite Eight after Saint Joseph's qualified on Thursday by beating Wake Forest. It's the first time the A-10 has ever put two teams into the Elite Eight.

Ironically one of them is Xavier, which was in last place in the West Division at the end of January but regrouped to win the conference tournament and give Saint Joseph's (30-1) its only loss.

"It's great for the A-10," Chalmers said. "Just to have two teams in the A-10, it shows how strong we are. When you prove it on the court, that's what counts."

Sunday Xavier plays on its grandest stage ever, with a 40-minute game separating it from a Final Four in San Antonio.

"I don't know if we had the energy, but our guys had heart tonight," Matta said. "We didn't come here to win just one basketball game."

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E-mail ddow@enquirer.com

Xavier	M	FG	Att	FT	Att	R	A	F	TO	TP
Cage	20	2	2	1	1	3	1	5	0	5
Doellman	22	4	9	1	1	6	1	4	0	10
Myles	29	4	10	1	5	7	1	3	0	9
Chalmers	40	4	15	4	5	7	6	2	1	14
Sato	40	5	13	14	17	3	0	3	3	27
Finn	29	3	7	3	4	3	1	1	0	11
Jackson	3	1	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	2
Cole	17	0	1	1	2	5	2	2	2	1
Totals	200	23	58	25	35	39	13	20	7	79

Team rebounds - 5.

Texas	M	FG	Att	FT	Att	R	A	F	TO	TP
Buckman	16	3	6	1	2	1	0	1	1	7
Klotz	20	1	10	0	0	8	0	2	1	2
Mouton	30	9	15	1	3	7	1	5	0	21
Paulino	17	1	3	3	4	1	2	4	0	6
Ivey	37	2	6	5	6	4	6	2	2	9
Thomas	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	2	0	0
Tucker	31	4	10	2	2	10	1	4	1	10
Moreno	9	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0
Taylor	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Harris	13	1	2	0	0	0	0	2	2	5
Boddicker	22	3	5	0	0	1	1	2	0	11
Totals	200	7	16	12	17	35	12	7	8	71

Team rebounds - 3.

Xavier	44	35	-79
Texas	41	30	-71

3-pointers - XU 8-25 (Doellman 1-3, Chalmers 2-8, Sato 3-9, Finn 2-5), T 7-16 (Mouton 2-4, Paulino 1-3, Ivey 0-1, Taylor 0-1, Harris 1-2, Boddicker 3-5). Technicals - Texas 2 (bench). Officials - Valentine, Hess, Maxwell. Attendance - 24,533