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NASHVILLE, Tennessee (Ticker) -- David West was full of thanks. Troy State was full of praise.

With its star forward plagued by foul trouble, third seed Xavier built a big early lead and held off 14th seed Troy State, 71-59, in a South Region first-round mismatch.

Lionel Chalmers scored 20 points and Romain Sato added 18 for the Musketeers (26-5), who led by as many as 20 and at least eight over the final 28-plus minutes. They will face defending national champion Maryland in the second round.

Xavier trailed only after Troy State made the first basket 3:06 into the game. But West and Sato had four points apiece during a 13-3 run that made it 13-5. Another 13-3 burst increased the lead to 29-15 with 4:49 left in the half.

A national Player of the Year candidate, West scored only four points in the first half, picking up his second foul with 11:07 left. But Chalmers had 14 points as Xavier built a 37-22 cushion at the break.

"We're going to have to play without him," said Chalmers, who was 5-of-9 from 3-point range, with the rest of the team going 1-of-11. "Hopefully, he won't get into foul trouble anymore, but we have to step up and make plays when he's out."

West, who was hit with his third foul 6:31 into the second half, finished with only 12 points, going 5-of-8 from the floor in 28 minutes. But he added eight rebounds, three rebounds and three steals, and was thankful to be playing again Sunday.

"Thankfully, we have another day to play, so I have a chance to get after it one more time," said West, the All-American who scored eight points under his average.

With West struggling, Sato took a bulk of the load, adding 11 rebounds and seven assists to his 18 points. He went just 1-of-8 from 3-point range, but the one he hit stalled a Trojans rally, making it 62-50 with 4:10 to play.

"They have two big-time players that did big-time things that put them in the position to win the game," Troy State guard Ben Fletcher said. "Our hats are off to them."

It was the first NCAA Tournament in 10 seasons as a Division I school for the Trojans, who had three chances to cut into a nine-point deficit with under five minutes left but could not get out of the hole they created in the first half.

Greg Davis scored 20 points but was the only player in double figures for Troy State, which was disappointed with its performance.

"I was happy that they were disappointed because many teams that are having their first NCAA Tournament experience are just happy to be here," Trojans coach Don Maestri said. "Our guys were very disappointed because they didn't advance."

West made a layup and Chalmers hit a 3-pointer as Xavier built its largest lead of the game, 42-22, just 84 seconds into the second half. It was 52-33 when West picked up his third foul.

The Trojans slowly chipped away at the lead. Davis scored five points during a 10-2 run that got them within 54-43 with 10:02 remaining, and Fletcher had five points in a 7-1 surge that made it 59-50 with 5:34 remaining.

Troy State had three chances to get closer, but Davis and Kendrick Johnson missed inside shots on the same possession and Davis missed a 3-pointer shortly thereafter. Sato followed with his 3-pointer that all but sealed it.

The Trojans eventually got within 62-54 on a layup by Eddie Baker with 2:49 to go, but got no closer. They finished just 35 percent from the field (23-of-65), going 11-of-29 from behind the arc.

Xavier, which shot only 41 percent (26-of-64) but held a 47-33 advantage off the glass, scored its final nine points from the free-throw line.