Xavier, Duke meet for chance to go to Final Four

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Posted 7:49AM on Saturday, March 27, 2004

ATLANTA - Nearly two months ago, Xavier appeared to be fighting for a spot in the NIT. Now, the Musketeers are one win away from going to the Final Four for the first time in school history. ``I love being in the dark and people not knowing who we are,'' guard Dedrick Finn said. ``We've been through a lot this season and to be able to come together and get this far and to finally make a name for ourselves, it feels great.'' Romain Sato scored 27 points and backcourt mate Lionel Chalmers added 14, helping No. 7 seed Xavier beat Texas 79-71 in the semifinals of the Atlanta Regional on Friday night. In the final, the Musketeers (26-10) will go against top-seeded Duke, which wore down Illinois and pulled away for a 72-62 victory in the nightcap. Duke has a 9-1 record in regional finals during the tenure of coach Mike Krzyzewski. At the end of January, a three-game losing streak dropped Xavier to 10-9, with crosstown rival Cincinnati next on the schedule. A victory against the Bearcats started an amazing run that's not quite over 16 wins in 17 games. ``Nobody thought we could get to this point,'' Sato said. ``We started 10-9 and everybody said we couldn't even make the NIT.'' In the A-10 tournament, the Musketeers won four games in four days including a 20-point rout of previously undefeated Saint Joseph's and then beat Louisville and Mississippi State to reach the round of 16 in the NCAA tournament. Xavier will be joined in the round of eight by Saint Joe's, which beat Wake Forest on Thursday night. It's the first time two A-10 teams have advanced this far. ``It's great for the A-10 because we don't get as much credit as we deserve,'' Chalmers said. ``It shows how strong we are, and it shows when we were in last place earlier in the year, that was the reason why.'' Brandon Mouton had 21 before fouling out for the third-seeded Longhorns (25-8), who were trying to reach the Final Four for the second straight season. Brian Boddicker added 11, and P.J. Tucker finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds. ``We had a goal as freshmen to win a national championship,'' said Mouton, one of four seniors who played prominent roles for Texas. ``We pushed each other at practice every day to get better in order to reach that goal, but we came up short. ``I feel that Texas is going to be a great program for years to come.'' In the nightcap, Chris Duhon scored only four points and attempted only one shot, but finished with a career-high 10 rebounds and eight assists while playing with sore ribs. More importantly, he helped hold Deron Williams Illinois' top scorer to only seven points on 3-of-13 shooting. Luol Deng led the Blue Devils (30-5) with 18 points, while J.J. Redick added 17 and Shelden Williams 14. But it was Duhon, the senior leader, who set the tone. ``I'm going to take my opportunities to score,'' Duhon said. ``Tonight it just wasn't there. Tonight it was there for me to run my team, get guys in the right position, just play defense.'' He was injured when he fell into a stanchion holding a TV camera during the ACC championship game. The Blue Devils had a stunning collapse that day, blowing a 12-point lead in the last five minutes and losing to Maryland in overtime. At the time, Duke looked vulnerable. Not anymore. The Blue Devils, who have the best winning percentage in NCAA tournament history, will be playing in a regional final for the 17th time. Another victory will send them to their 14th Final Four just one short of the record shared by North Carolina and UCLA. James Augustine and Roger Powell led the Illini (29-6) with 15 points apiece, and Dee Brown playing with a stress fracture in his left leg added 14. But the other guards, Deron Williams and Luther Head, combined to go 7-of-24 for 16 points. ``We went down with a fight,'' Brown said. ``You always learn from a game. Hopefully we learned our lesson.'' The Illini got off to a slow start this season under first-year coach Bruce Weber, but rebounded to win 14 of 15 along with the Big Ten championship before running into the Blue Devils. ``I just told them how proud I was of them,'' Weber said. ``The most important thing was we hung together as a basketball family this season. No family in life is perfect, and we're not perfect.'' Duke was up 31-30 at the half and never relinquished its lead. Illinois missed five straight free throws at one point, hurting its chances to get back in the game. Redick the cocky target of Duke haters everywhere essentially sealed the victory with a 3-pointer, putting the Blue Devils ahead 67-57 with about 6.5 minutes left. He strutted down the court bobbing his head, his mouth wide open. Illinois never got closer than seven points the rest of the way.