Dallas ? Xavier wasn’t daunted by a double-digit deficit.

With Romain Sato and Lionel Chalmers turning up the defensive pressure in the second half, the No. 7-seeded Musketeers rallied to beat Hawaii 70-58 in the first round of the West Regional.

Sato had 18 points and 10 rebounds, and Chalmers forced Hawaii’s guards into a spate of turnovers as the Musketeers overcame a 12-point first-half hole.

Sato’s 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer pulled Xavier (26-5) to 40-33 at the break, and he kept making big plays in the second half. It was Xavier’s first win in the tournament since beating Vanderbilt in 1997 in the first round.

The Musketeers next play No. 2-seeded Oklahoma, which beat Illinois-Chicago 71-63.

Hawaii (27-6) missed its first 11 shots of the second half, when Xavier went on a 11-1 run to take its first lead since the opening minutes of the game.

Warriors guard Phil Martin hit a 3-pointer with 11:37 left in the game to end the cold streak, but Xavier continued to roll. The Musketeers took a 58-48 lead – their largest of the game – with just over four minutes left on Kevin Frey’s fallaway jumper as he tumbled to the court.

Hawaii continued its struggles in the game’s closing minutes, missing on 3-pointers and even clanging layups off the side of the basket.

Meanwhile, Xavier sealed the victory by making 12 of 14 free throws in the final 1:19. Chalmers finished with 15 points, six rebounds, six assists and five steals. David West added 13 points and 11 rebounds.

Hawaii scored more points in the last three minutes of the second half (10) than in the first 17 (eight).

In the first half, led by Predrag Savovic’s 16 points, Hawaii shot 48 percent from the field, including 5-of-11 on 3-pointers.

Hawaii took its biggest lead of the game at 40-28 on Carl English’s 3-pointer with about three minutes left in the half.

But Xavier started its rally before the break, and Savovic struggled with Sato’s defense in the second half. Savovic didn’t score until a 3-pointer with 5:25 left in the game. He finished with 26 points, mostly on buckets in the closing minutes.

Hawaii has been on the road since leaving Honolulu on Feb. 26 for road games and then the Western Athletic Conference tournament. After winning the conference title last Saturday, the Warriors flew to Dallas on Monday to prepare for the game against Xavier.

Xavier entered Friday’s game coming off a win over Richmond in the Atlantic 10 tournament title game.