Xavier didn't get the early jump on basketball season, foregoing a Midnight Madness practice. That doesn't mean XU won't get up to speed soon.

        The first practice of the Thad Matta Era is 1 p.m. today, and XU should find fifth gear within the hour. If the players learned anything about their near coach, it's that he revs his motor high.

        “He's ready to start, more anxious even than some of the guys on the team,” junior guard Lionel Chalmers said. “We all feel that, and we're (feeding) off it.”

        Asked about Matta, Chalmers and junior center David West invoked the same adjective: intense. Practices figure to be crash courses in kinetic energy, with layups far outnumbering letups.

        Wednesday, after his individual workout with Matta, West said he had to find a place to sit before being interviewed. “I am beat,” he said. Therein lies the promise Matta made — to make XU the nation's hardest-working team.

        “Everything we focus on in practice will be for a specific purpose, something to make us better,” West said. “Even if practices are shorter, there'll be no rest time, maybe an hour and 45 minutes straight through rather than three hours with breaks.”

        It has been five months and 10 days since Matta's hire, much of which he spent recruiting. For a gym rat, today is Christmas.

        “I love practice,” Matta said. “That's kind of what I live for.”

        Matta's style is one of structure, and though he says Xavier will “get out and go” on offense, he wants that done smartly.

        “I hope we're a very hard-nosed, very competitive-type team, getting guys to understand the value of every possession, every game,” he said. “Our goal is to be a team that's very hard to score against. We have to be able to stop people to get out and run.”

        Chalmers said the team, which is being forecast for another NCAA Tournament appearance, aims for a Sweet 16 berth. Matta and his assistants will have their own expectations to meet.

        “They're kind of under the microscope, as well as we are,” West said of the coaches. “Everyone wants to see how we're going to react to the new coaches, and everyone wants to see how they react to coming to a new place to coach.”

Cavs-Nets game tonight at Cintas

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Ohio football scores
Kentucky football scores
Indiana football scores
Anderson 29, Amelia 0
Batavia 18, Bethel Tate 8
Beechwood 42, Holy Cross 0
Bellevue 37, Ludlow 0
Boone County 17, Dixie Heights 13
Campbell County 28, Conner 13
Cin. Hills Christian Academy 33, Landmark Christian 16
Cincinnati Country Day 37, Lockland 6
Colerain 42, Middletown 0
East Central 31, La Salle 21
Goshen 21, Norwood 14
Hamilton 17, Oak Hills 14
Harrison 40, Mason 16
Hillsboro 14, Clinton Massie 10
Kings 34, Wilmington 14
Lakota East 21, Sycamore 20
Lebanon 24, Fairborn 0
Lloyd 33, Garrard County 10
Loveland 27, Little Miami 7
Madeira 21, Indian Hill 20
McNicholas 41, Badin 12
Milford 24, Fairfield 19
Moeller 20, Col. St. Francis De Sales 10
Mount Healthy 62, Shroder 0
New Richmond 50, Clermont Northeastern 12
NewCath 63, Dayton 8
North College Hill 49, New Miami 2
Princeton 30, Lakota West 21
Reading 42, Mariemont 6
Roger Bacon 20, Purcell Marian 10
Summit County Day 74, Yellow Springs 13
Talawanda 34, Edgewood 25
Taylor 33, Deer Park 6
Washington Court House 28, Jonathan Alder 15
West Carrollton 12, Monroe 6
Western Hills 27, Woodward 8
Williamsburg 66, Western Brown 8
Winton Woods 24, Turpin 7
Wyoming 49, Finneytown 20

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