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Xavier used superior size wear down and defeat Weber State in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. The Musketeers opened up an early six-point lead and never allowed the smaller Wildcats to mount a serious threat.
The final score in Saint Louis was 71-53.
Head coach Chris Mack used his two post players with great success as starter Jalen Reynolds scored 12 points and grabbed five rebounds. Senior James Farr came off the Xavier bench to record a double-double (18 points and 15 rebounds).
Two other Musketeers reached double figures in scoring as Remy Abell scored 11 points and Trevon Bluiett tallied 10. Edmund Sumner and Myles Davis each contributed six assists. The bigger X-men won the rebounding battle 43 to 27.
Weber State coach Randy Rahe said he was proud of his players and praised Xavier for being a great team.
"They're a great team with all the ingredients to be a great team," said Rahe. "They were bigger and stronger than we are. They might be bigger in person than they were on tape."
Xavier had a solid shooting night. They made 48 percent of their shots and 50 percent of their threes. The Musketeers are 25-0 when they make 40 percent of their shots.
Head Coach Chris Mack is now 7-5 in the NCAA Tournament, and Xavier raised its record to 28-5. Mack thought his team's effort on the defensive end was important.
Weber State's leading scorer Jeremy Senglin was held to seven points largely because of the defensive effort of Abel.
"I don't think Jeremy Senglin ever worked as hard as he did to score seven points," said Mack. "Remy did a great job of chasing Senglin around those screens and didn't let him get free like Steph Curry."
Weber State Senior Joel Bolomboy recorded a double-double (14 points and 10 rebounds) and freshman McKay Cannon scored ten points, dished off five assists, and recorded four steals. The Wildcats (26-9) were the regular season and tournament champions of the Big Sky Conference.
The Musketeers meet Wisconsin (21-12) Sunday night.