IOWA CITY - Trying to upset the No.1 team is made a lot more difficult by turning it over, Class 3A No.8 Xavier found out Friday.

It was like trying to ice skate uphill against Class 4A No.1 Iowa City West, and the Saints lost, 75-41, in a Mississippi Valley Conference boys basketball game in Iowa City.

"We did a poor job of handling their pressure," Xavier Coach Ryan Luehrsmann said. "We talked about it. We tried to simulate it in practice ... But it was as good as advertised. And turnovers killed us."

West High (6-0) led 25-6 after the first quarter and 44-19 by half. Xavier (4-2) had 14 turnovers in the first 16 minutes.

"They have great defense," Xavier junior Adam McDermott said. "We just couldn't execute our plays. Their defense was just unreal. And they were knocking down their shots.

"They came ready to play."

West High Coach Steve Bergman thought it might be the best the two-time defending 4A champs have played to open a game this season.

Luehrsmann agreed.

"They probably played one of their better games of the year," Luehrsmann said. "They were really clicking."

Iowa City West has won 58 straight games the past three seasons.

The Trojans came out of halftime on a 5-0 run to go up by 30, 49-19, and led by as much as 36 points in the fourth quarter before the benches were emptied.

Northern Iowa signee Wyatt Lohaus led the Trojans with 18 points. David DiLeo had 15 points and Nick Gallagher added nine points off the bench.

Freshman Connor McCaffery - son of Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery - had six points and six rebounds.

"They were having fun," Bergman said. "The whole bench, all the kids were having a blast.

"That was a good start tonight. We've been slow-starting."

Xavier won a couple stretches of clock after the first quarter, but never put a significant dent in the big Trojan lead.

"Just turning down the turnovers," McDermott said. "That was a big part of it. Just executing our plays."

Luehrsmann said there were a few positives to take away.

"If you look at the thrown away possessions, we weren't that bad," Luehrsmann said. "But that's how they thrive; that's how they blow people out."

McDermott led Xavier with 17 points and Calvin Winker added 11 points.

And the night wasn't a total loss for the Saints. A member of the Xavier frosh/soph team, Michael Bisenius, earned a year's worth of Panchero burritos by nailing a halfcourt shot at halftime.

XAVIER (41): Adam McDermott 7-15 3-4 17, Connor Ramlo 1-2 0-0 2, Calvin Winker 5-8 1-2 11, Matt Nelson 2-3 2-2 6, Andrew Bisenius 0-3 2-2 2, Mitchell Burger 0-2 0-0 0, Frank Hill 0-2 0-0 0, Joe Welch 1-2 1-2 3, Noah Clasen 0-0 0-0 0, Blake Klosterman 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 16-37 10-12 41.

IOWA CITY WEST (75): Garrett Grimsman 1-1 0-0 2, Wyatt Lohaus 7-9 4-4 18, Connor McCaffery 2-4 0-0 6, David DiLeo 6-10 1-2 15, Chike Ukah 2-3 1-2 5, Adam Klein 2-3 1-2 6, Tanner Lohaus 2-4 3-3 7, Nick Gallagher 4-5 0-0 9, Nick Spiess 0-0 1-2 1, Marquise Yarbrough 0-1 0-0 0, Wali Parks 0-0 0-2 0, Alex Henderson 1-3 0-0 2, Malik Williams 0-0 0-0 0, Harley Shear 1-1 0-0 2, Nick Gallagher 0-0 0-0 0, Ahmed Ismail 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 29-46 11-17 75.

Halftime - Iowa City West 44, Xavier 19. 3-point goals - Xavier 0-8 (McDermott 0-6, Winker 0-1, Burger 0-1), West 6-12 (W.Lohaus 0-1, McCaffery 2-2, DiLeo 2-4, Klein 1-1, Gallagher 1-2, Henderson 0-2). Rebounds - Xavier 16 (McDermott 4), Iowa City West 28 (DiLeo 7, McCaffery 6). Turnovers - Xavier 19, Iowa City West 8. Total fouls - Xavier 15, Iowa City West 15.