PHOENIX -- Xavier coach Sean Miller was an outstanding point guard at Pitt in the late 1980s and early '90s, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that the Musketeers are led by one of the best point guards in the country in Drew Lavender.

This fact isn't lost on West Virginia, which tonight will try to handle Lavender and the Musketeers in an NCAA tournament West Region semifinal matchup at the U.S. Airways Center.

West Virginia (26-10) is the No. 7 seed while Xavier (29-6) is No. 3, and though the two teams play in different conferences, they are far more similar than they are different because the backbone of both teams is a physical brand of stifling defense that their coaches insist they play.

But the Mountaineers understand that Lavender, who averages 11 points and 4.4 assists per game, is the kind of player who will put their defense to the test and they believe that slowing him down is the key to beating the Musketeers.

---

Scouting report

• Matchup: No. 7 seed West Virginia (26-10) vs. No. 3 seed Xavier (29-6), 7:10 p.m. today, U.S. Airways Center, Phoenix. The Mountaineers favored by one.
• TV, Radio: KDKA-TV; The Mountaineer Sports Network.
• West Virginia: Making its third appearance in the Sweet 16 in the past four years. ... Has won 30 of its past 33 games vs. non-Big East teams. ... Tonight's game is 37th of season, a school record. ... Forward Joe Alexander has scored in double figures in 14 consecutive games.
• Xavier: Coached by former Pitt and Blackhawk standout Sean Miller. ... Has five players averaging double figures in scoring. ... This is the third time the Musketeers have advanced to the Sweet 16. ... Has been to the NCAA tournament seven times in the past eight years.
• Hidden stat: West Virginia has a 10-game winning streak against the Atlantic 10.

---

"He's an excellent player, an outstanding point guard and everyone knows that," guard Joe Mazzulla, who is one of the Mountaineers' designated "stoppers," said after the Mountaineers practice. "If you watch them, they run a lot of ball screens for him and do a lot of different things to make sure he has the ball in his hands because he is the guy that makes them go.

"We're going to come out and try to be a little more physical with him, see if we can bump him around and rough him up a little bit and see what he is made of.

"We can't just let him run around without getting a body on him and getting him out of rhythm. It really will be important for us to do everything we can to keep the ball out of his hands or at least to make it hard on them to get him the ball."

Mazzulla's plan sounds good in theory, but it is much tougher to pull off, which most of the Musketeers' opponents have found out the hard way.

And while Lavender is small, he is generously listed at 5 feet 7 and 153 pounds, he is tough, he is quick and he is a senior. He is battle-tested and very crafty..

And despite his height, or lack there of considering the size of a typical Division I guard, he is not a liability on defense.

Lavender isn't fazed by the fact that the Mountaineers likely will key on him. He's used to receiving that kind of treatment from opposing defense and also because he knows the Musketeers are more than a one-man show.

"I think West Virginia will play the way they play all year," Lavender said. "They always play hard on defense, no matter who they are facing. And I am pretty sure that I am not the only one they are going to try and stop -- they are going to try and stop [senior guard] Josh [Duncan] and [junior forward] B.J. [Raymond] as well.

"And I have all the trust in the world in my teammates, so if they try and stop me and they succeed, other teammates will step up."

Miller said that Lavender, who transferred from Oklahoma after the 2005 season, is an excellent point guard, not just because of his skill set and his basketball intelligence, but also because he is a winner. Lavender has been a part of championship caliber teams going back to his days at Brookhaven High School in Columbus, Ohio.

He believes that a major reason Lavender has emerged as such a star the past two years is that he has been in his comfort zone at Xavier and has been the perfect guy to lead the Musketeers.

"So much of a point guard's success is just picking the right style of play and picking a coach who you can really flourish under," Miller said. "And to me, Xavier really fits Drew because our style of play allows for him to use his strengths and he is surrounded by some players that make him harder for opponents to deal with him.

"Sometimes going away to college to that huge state university sometimes sounds better than it really is," Miller said of Lavender's time at Oklahoma. "And I think for him, returning to his Ohio roots in a smaller environment has really allowed him to be the best he can be.

"What he has done for us -- in two years he has led us to the tournament and helped us advance in the tournament, he has won two conference championships, he won a high school state championship and, at Oklahoma, he won a Big 12 championship."

Although Lavender is the guy who makes the Musketeers go, they are far from a one-man show.

One of their greatest strengths -- along with experience -- is their balance. They have five players who average 10 points or more and a sixth at 9.8. They also don't have a dominant rebounder, but they have four players who average more than 4.7 rebounds per game.

The key for West Virginia might be slowing down the Musketeers' transition game.

"They are a smaller team but they really play well together, both on offense and defense," center Jamie Smalligan said. "They are a really skilled team -- their starting center can shoot it and he can put it on the floor, and [Lavender] really runs their offense so we have to try and take care of him."

Mountaineers forward Joe Alexander added, "They're a well-balanced team, which is going to make our approach a little bit different because everyone will really have to buckle down on defense because everyone they put on the floor is a threat."