You’re up against the unbeaten best team in the state.

They have Division I talent all over the court, even off the bench.

They tromped you at their place earlier in the season.

Some teams might choke-up and meekly allow them to run all over them again.

But the scrappy Xavier Saints under even-tempered Coach Matt Jenkins, as always, fought tooth-and-nail with No. 1 Iowa City West from start to finish.  They didn’t given an inch and lost 72-60 at home Friday night in a game that was far closer.

The Trojans (15-0, 10-0) nursed a narrow game-long lead and stretched it to a dozen with a slew of free throws at the end.

Xavier (5-9, 4-5) buckled but never broke.

“One thing I try to preach,” said Jenkins, “is that lack of effort will ever be a reason for us to lose.

“I thought we did a phenomenal job tonight against a very good team.  We kept battling so hard to keep coming back. And we kept our composure.

“Just a couple of possessions made the difference. We  missed some shots, and they came down and hit theirs. But we played them a lot harder this time around.”

In their previous encounter in mid-December, West raced out to a 17-3 lead and coasted to an effortless 69-49 victory.

“It could easily been 35 to 40 points,” Jenkins said after the much more competitive rematch.

Trojan Coach Steve Bergman figured his talented team would be in for a tussle.

“We knew that they’ve improved a lot. They’re a senior-laden team with experience in tough-game situations," he said.  “They’re big, and we knew they wouldn’t back down.

“Give Xavier a lot of credit. They’re one of those teams that come tournament time, you don’t to play ‘em. Because they can beat anybody.”

West has loads of depth and some superior athletes.  One of them, 6-foot-3 battering ram Dondre Alexander, picked up two quick fouls Friday night and sat for the most of the first half.  In his absence, however, silky smooth 6-foot-6 junior guard Jeremy Morgan (son of former Iowa Hawkeye Michael Morgan) scored eight points as the Trojans went ahead 17-10 after one quarter.

They maintained that margin through three quarters, but the Saints never let them run away.

Xavier played tenacious man-to-man defense and continued to pound the boards.  Bulky 6-foot-5 senior center Mack Mattke said the Saints refused to be intimidated by the state’s top-ranked team.

“We fought ‘em to the end," he said. "The biggest difference this time was that pushed the ball and ran. We got some good open shots.  And we didn’t back down.”

Mattke led his team with eight rebounds, including five on offense.  He also scored 11 points in a balanced attack led by seniors Ben McDermott with 17, Carter Valentine with 10 and Kevin Hosch with nine.

Although West led by 10 going into the last quarter, the Saints quickly cut it to five on a 3-pointer by junior starter Trey Sampson and consecutive driving buckets by Hosch and McDermott.

But then Alexander, who leads his team in scoring with a 16.5 average, started to take over.  Held to just five points for three quarters, he scored 14 in the final four minutes on two baskets and 10 straight free throws.

Meanwhile, Morgan was steady all game long and topped his 16.1 average with 21 points.

“We needed a game like this,” said Bergman, who is used to winning by 20 or more.  “We haven’t had a taxing game for awhile. We knew we’d be in for a battle.”

The soft-spoken Jenkins said he was pleased even in defeat.

“We had a lot of positives tonight. We’re getting better game-by-game.  We’ve got a lot of room to grow. I don’t think we’ve hit our peak yet.”

Xavier plays at Jefferson Saturday night.

IOWA CITY WEST (72): Richard Bryant 2 1-2 5, Dondre Alexander 4 11-12 19, Jeremy Morgan 8 3-4 21, Wyatt Lohaus 3 0-0 6, Jacob Gylten 4 3-4 11, Tavian Smith 0 0-0 0, Myzeah Batie-Gaddy 1 0-0 2, Austin Swank 1 0-0 2, Jason Stewart 3 0-0 6. Totals 26 18-22 72.

XAVIER (60): Trey Sampson 2 0-0 5, Ben McDermott 6 3-4 17, Kevin Hosch 4 1-1 9, Carter Valentine 4 2-4 10, Mack Mattke 3 5-8 11, Brian Ropp 1 0-0 2, Tanner Frazier 2 0-0 4, Alec Clasen 0 0-0 0, Matt Nelson 1 0-0 2. Totals 23 11-17 60.

Halftime – West 32, Xavier 24. 3-point goals – West 2 (Morgan 2), Xavier 3 (McDermott 2, Sampson). Total fouls – West 15, Xavier 12. Fouled out – none.