ATLANTA, March 26 (UPI) -- Romain Sato scored 27 points and made six free throws in the final 25 seconds Friday night as Xavier fought off Texas in the NCAA Tournament, 79-71.
The seventh-seeded Musketeers advanced to Elite Eight for the first time and will play in the Atlanta Region final on Sunday against Duke.
Lionel Chalmers added 14 points, six rebounds and six assists for the Musketeers (26-10), who have won 16 of their last 17 games.
Texas Coach Rick Barnes was ejected after being assessed two technical fouls with 3.9 seconds left. Barnes was irate because no foul was called on Xavier's Dedrick Finn while he rebounded a missed three-pointer by Texas' Sydmill Harris that would have tied the game.
Sato then made three of four technical free throws and Finn, who was fouled snatching the rebound, sank both attempts to cap the scoring.
"They shot 23 free throws to our four in the second half," Barnes said.
Brandon Mouton scored 21 points before fouling out with 2:09 remaining for Texas (25-8), which reached the Final Four last season.
