If there was one dichotomy Xavier fans could point to seven months ago for why to hire Thad Matta, it was the Wisconsin games. Xavier had been blasted 61-46 last December in Madison, its worst defeat of the season. Eight weeks later, Matta took Butler to Wisconsin and stunned the 10th-ranked Badgers 58-44, the second-worst defeat of the season for UW.

        Now, Thad, did you bring that scouting report with you?

LINEUPS

WISCONSIN   Player-Ht-Yr-PPG   Kirk Penney-6-5-Jr.-10.4   Charlie Wills-6-8-Sr.-8.1   Dave Mader-6-11-So.-2.9   Devin Harris-6-3-Fr.-16.3   Travon Davis-5-10-Sr.-7.4   Coach: Bo Ryan (3-5, first year; 386-108, 18th overall)   XAVIER   Player-Ht-Yr-PPG   Dave Young-6-5-Jr.-8.3   Kevin Frey-6-8-Sr.-9.2   David West-6-9-Jr.-22.2   Romain Sato-6-5-So.-14.2   Lionel Chalmers-6-0-Jr.-10.5   Coach: Thad Matta (4-2, first year; 28-10, second overall)

        XU (4-2) won't need Matta's memory of his Badger-busting game to help it tonight, when Wisconsin (3-5) visits Cintas Center. UW plays a different style under new coach Bo Ryan, and just one of its top seven players from last season is back.

        So the faces are new. That doesn't mean XU doesn't crave payback. “There's no need for me to (hype) this for the players, because of the butt-kicking they got last year up there,” Matta said.

        XU junior center David West, named Sunday as Atlantic 10 player of the week for the third time in four weeks, said the Musketeers remain embarrassed about the result of last year's game.

        The Musketeers shot a season-worst 27.3 percent and totaled just 12 baskets, at one stretch going 13:33 without a field goal. Their 12 baskets were the fewest in a game in 19 years. Wisconsin shot 55.3 percent, the top total by an XU opponent in the regular season.

        “We let those guys dictate the tempo and everything,” West said. “They had us doing what they want.”

        That was a senior-laden UW team, and this isn't. It's not even a lucky one, down to eight healthy scholarship players. (XU has nine.) Top freshman center Andreas Helmigk tore up his knee, and steady ballhandler Latrell Fleming has had to give up basketball because of a heart condition.

        “The timing on those two wasn't good for us,” Ryan said. “It just seemed to make everything a lot tougher.”

        That led to numerous narrow defeats: The five losses have come by a total of 15 points. UW lost a 20-point second-half lead in losing by a point at Georgia Tech and fell in double-overtime to Temple. But it rallied from 10 points down to win Saturday at Ohio.

        The only returning starter is junior guard Kirk Penney (10.4 ppg). The youth movement is in full force, with freshman guard Devin Harris leading the team in scoring (16.3) and sophomore reserve Freddie Owens ranking second (10.8).

        Ryan, a former Division III coaching legend — he won four national championships at UW-Platteville — has long embraced the 3-point shot. UW averages 23.3 attempts from that distance, and it has made 25 more 3-pointers than has XU thus far.

        “People who coach, they know Bo Ryan,” Matta said.

        Ryan spent the past two seasons coaching at Wisconsin-Milwaukee, a Horizon League rival of Butler's. Matta won both head-to-head matchups last season.

Xavier Stories

'Shootout' can wait for UC, Xavier Wisconsin is trouble for XU XU women beat Toledo in three OTs

Young-for-Millwood deal killed
Baseball free agents still hot commodities
Jaguars 14, Bengals 10
Bengals report card
DAUGHERTY: Blame the coaches for bad offense
SULLIVAN: No more scorn for pass rush
Smith, Brunell star despite each other
Jackson hits career milestone
Bengals injury report
Bengals Notebook
Battered Brunell inspires Jaguars
Steelers 18, Jets 7
Broncos 20, Seahawks 7
Last loss to Toledo still stings Bearcats
Local players on losing end of NCAA soccer final
Ohio State gets bowl rematch
Bellisari credits family, teammates with helping him
Cooper interested in Indiana job
Roethlisberger named Miami MVP
Sports events this week
High school week ahead
This week's boys basketball schedule
This week's girls basketball schedule
Cincinnati high school results
Highlands' Smith finalist for Mr. Football

• Return to Xavier front page...