The Musketeers race past Texas to give the A-10 two teams in the regional finals.
By The Associated Press

ATLANTA – The kid with the catchy Web site can post some breaking news: Xavier is going to an NCAA regional final for the first time.

Romain Sato scored 27 points and backcourt mate Lionel Chalmers added 14, helping the Musketeers beat Texas 79-71 in the semifinals of the Atlanta Regional on Friday night.

No. 7 seed Xavier (26-10) won for the 16th time in 17 games and advanced to Sunday’s regional final,

That information surely will be featured prominently on

www.starinanylanguage.com, the site started by Sato, a native of the Central African Republic who speaks six different languages.

In the quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 tournament, Xavier beat previously undefeated Saint Joseph’s 87-67. The Hawks beat Wake Forest on Thursday night to advance to the final of the East Rutherford Regional.

It’s the first time two A-10 teams have advanced to the round of eight.

Dedrick Finn added 11 points for the Musketeers.

Kansas 100, UAB 74

ST. LOUIS – Wayne Simien, Aaron Miles and Kansas put Alabama-Birmingham through its own version of “40 Minutes of Hell.”

Simien had 30 points, nine rebounds and five assists and the Jayhawks had few problems handling UAB’s frenetic defense Friday night, moving a step closer to their third straight Final Four with a 100-74 victory in the St. Louis Regional semifinals.

The Jayhawks, who practiced against eight players this week to prepare for UAB’s pressing defense, committed 17 turnovers and were forced into plenty of silly errors but offset that by beating the Blazers at their own chaotic game.

Miles keyed it all by outrunning the press, either hitting all sorts of twisting layups or dishing off to wide-open teammates. He finished with 10 assists.

Freshman J.R. Giddens had 18 points and Jeff Graves added 13 points and eight rebounds.

The ninth-seeded Blazers (22-10) made it to St. Louis after ousting the tournament’s top overall seed Kentucky and had boasted earlier in the week about how their run-and-gun style of play had worn down the heavily favored Wildcats.

In the end, it was UAB that looked weary.

Ga. Tech 72, Nevada 67

ST. LOUIS – Georgia Tech is so good it didn’t even need its leading scorer to reach the regional finals of the NCAA tournament.

Marvin Lewis had 23 points and Will Bynum made a huge layup with 65 seconds left to give the Yellow Jackets a 72-67 victory over Nevada on Friday night in the regional semifinals of the NCAA tournament.

The third-seeded Yellow Jackets (26-9) are in the regional finals for just the third time in school history and the first time since 1990.

The 10th-seeded Wolf Pack knocked off Michigan State and routed Gonzaga to make the round of 16, and it seemed as if another upset was in the making early – especially with Georgia Tech forced to play without B.J. Elder.

Elder, who is averaging 16.2 points, sprained his right ankle less than two minutes into the game when Kirk Snyder landed on it.

Duke 72, Illinois 62

ATLANTA – Chris Duhon may be hurting, but he’s doing just fine. So are the Duke Blue Devils.

Dragging himself off the floor time and time again, Duhon steered Duke into an all-too-familiar position – one win from the Final Four – with a 72-62 victory over Illinois in the Atlanta Regional semifinals Friday night.

Duhon attempted only one shot, but it didn’t matter for Duke (30-5). The 6-foot-1 point guard dished out eight assists and kept sneaking inside for rebounds, winding up with a game-high 10. He also spent part of the night guarding Illinois’ top scorer, Deron Williams, who managed just seven points on 3-of-13 shooting.

Not bad for a guy who was playing with sore ribs, a heavy wrapping visible under his jersey. Duhon was hurt in the ACC championship game – when the Blue Devils looked vulnerable after a stunning collapse against Maryland.

Not so fast.

Top-seeded Duke pulled away from Illinois (29-6) in the second half and headed on to the regional final to meet No. 7 Xavier.

, which knocked off Texas 79-71 in the first game of the evening. The winner of that game gets a trip to the Final Four in San Antonio.

Luol Deng led the Blue Devils with 18 points, while J.J. Redick added 17 and Shelden Williams 14. But it was Duhon, the senior leader, who set the tone.

He dove out of bounds once to make a save, managing to call timeout before slamming to the floor. On two other occasions, he was knocked to the court by Illinois players.

Every time, Duhon pulled himself up and kept on going.

AP-ES-03-27-04 0026EST