Romain Sato battles for a loose ball with Purdue's Maynard Lewis. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

        Romain Sato doesn't get defensive if you ask him about his shooting slump. Maybe because he spends his time being defensive on the court.

        The sophomore guard has become the stopper on a unit having one of Xavier's finest defensive seasons. While seeking similar aggression on offense, Sato has adapted his defense to embrace coach Thad Matta's blue-collar focus.

        “That's what I'm trying to learn to do: be the best defender I can,” Sato said. “Because I'm not going to be the best scorer on the team. I want to help my team play defense, because the only way we win is to play defense.”

        Sato, considered the team's best jump shooter, has been struggling with his outside shot. His 3-point shooting is at 33.3 percent (16-of-48), down from 37.4 percent last season.

        Sato averaged 14.2 points the first six games of this season but just 8.0 in the past four games. He has shot 34.4 percent overall in this mini-slump, as opposed to 41.2 percent earlier. He has totaled 17 fouls in the past four games, fouling out for the first two times in his career.

        Yet it was during this stretch Sato drew his greatest praise from Matta because of his defensive work and aggressive drives to the basket. The previously one-dimensional player, who took 71 percent of his field goal tries last season from 3-point range, has taken just 48 percent of his shots from that range this season.

        “I think he's adding to (his game),” Matta said. “Now he's gotten to where he can drive the ball a little bit more. I think he's getting (the aggression) because of the way he's defending.”

        Which is to say, well. The 6-foot-5 Sato is usually assigned to blanket the opponent's top scorer. Most notably, he has harassed Wisconsin's Kirk Penney into 4-of-11 shooting and Kent State's Trevor Huffman into a 4-of-21 night.

        Sato, who drew the fewest fouls of any starter last season, has 33 this year — 12 more than any teammate. That's in line with his increasingly active play. He ranks second on the team in rebounding (6.0 avg.), blocks (nine) and steals (12), having just one less steal than team leader David West.

        The Musketeers (7-3) lead the Atlantic 10 in scoring defense (61.4 ppg) and rank second in defensive field goal shooting (39.1 percent).

        Sato said his increased focus on defense sometimes hurts his offense (11.7 ppg). Opponents generally run their top scorers around screens to set up shots, so Sato spends much of his night in pursuit, banging into big men.

        “It's tough to play good defense and to shoot the ball well all the time,” he said. “The thing I need to do most now is, if some guy on their team can score 20, 25 points a game, I'm going to try to stop him.”

        Sato's production varies. He has made four or more 3-pointers in a game three times this season but had one or none the other seven games. Five times this season, he has made two or fewer baskets overall.

        “I'm trying to be aggressive,” Sato said. “Like, I must drive to the basket — do something different. But if my shot is off, I know Dave West can score and other people can score.”

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