By Dustin Dow
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Eastern Kentucky coach Travis Ford isn't giving his team much of a chance tonight when it plays No. 21 Xavier at Cintas Center.

He knows what his team is up against: All-American candidates David West and Romain Sato, Xavier's 15-game win streak at Cintas Center and EKU's (5-4) own inconsistency this season. So forgive him if the Colonels look like a team that is just trying to get better tonight.

"We're trying to figure out how to win," Ford said. "And a game against Xavier allows us to see what it's like to compete at the highest level. The players love it, and they know it's going to be in front of a big crowd. But they understand that we're underdogs. We're still going to give an effort, though. Otherwise it would be a waste of time."

While Ford's team in Richmond, Ky., is relatively unknown being from the Ohio Valley Conference, Ford is quite popular throughout Kentucky. He played basketball for the University of Kentucky from 1991-1994 and led the Wildcats to the Final Four in 1993. Ford was a two-time first-team all Southeastern Conference selection and said many fans still enjoy talking to him about his UK days.

"There's none quite like Kentucky fans," Ford said. "They remember every game, so they're always bringing up all kinds of games."

Ford transferred to UK from Missouri after his freshman season because he liked the Wildcats' coach at the time, Rick Pitino. Eastern Kentucky, Ford said, employs some of Pitino's fast-paced style, though not nearly as much because of personnel limitations.

Tonight EKU can only hope West or Sato has a bad game, Ford said, because there isn't much his team can do to stop them.

Xavier coach Thad Matta would rather see his team stop somebody. He was not pleased with the amount of points the Musketeers (7-2) gave up Monday in a 96-88 win at Siena. Before that, the most Xavier had allowed this season was 71 in a 10-point loss to Mississippi State on Dec. 14.

"We're not guarding anybody," Matta said. "We've got to get better defensively. We've got to get back to taking each possession and working better defensively. We've gotten into a pattern where we'll trade baskets with people, and we don't want to do that."

Matta is not buying the argument that EKU comes into Cintas without a chance, even with No. 18 Creighton and No. 1 Alabama looming in the near future on XU's schedule.

"I haven't thought about that," Matta said. "I don't know if (players) have."

No one mentioned Creighton or Alabama Friday at practice.

"We can't look past anybody the way we've been playing," said point guard Dedrick Finn. "We can be a great team, but we have to put it all together."

That is what Xavier will have to do against Creighton on Dec. 31 and Alabama Jan. 4, but there may be a little more room for error tonight. Ford said the EKU coaching staff is still trying to figure out who is going to start against Xavier.

"We go by what we see in practice the day before the game," Ford said. "(Practices) are getting very competitive."

A sure candidate at point guard is freshman Matt Witt from Tipp City, Ohio, who has been named the OVC Rookie of the Week four out of the past five weeks. He leads the team in scoring with 14.2 points a game and in assists with 34.

Witt probably will match up with Finn, Xavier's own freshman point guard who has displayed more offense in the last four games when he scored above his season average of 4.7 points in each game.

But Sato remains the popular topic of conversation after he broke a five-game shooting slump with 33 points against Siena. Matta reiterated Friday that the team is just glad Sato is back to normal.

Ford said that really doesn't matter because Xavier has so many other methods to beat his team.

"We talked about having a game plan," Ford said, "but really we aren't going to change anything we're doing."

SEEING NEW THINGS: Xavier freshman Angelo Smith, known for his wraparound eye goggles, has made the switch to contact lenses.

He wore contacts against Siena on Monday and said he liked them better than goggles. Smith discarded the goggles after a lens popped out against Ball State Dec.20.

"I went out and got contacts the next day," Smith said. "It's like a whole new world with contacts. I don't have any peripheral problems or anything."

SNOWED IN: Albany, N.Y., native Lionel Chalmers stayed with his family after the Siena game longer than expected because his flight out of Albany on Christmas Day was canceled because of snow.

He eventually made it out, but not before having to return to the Albany airport three times Thursday, causing him to miss the first part of practice that night.

"At first they told me I wasn't going to be able to leave until (today)," Chalmers said. "So I had to go on standby all day after I got there at 6 a.m. to catch a flight. I finally left at 4:15."

E-mail ddow@enquirer.com

Eastern Kentucky at No. 21 Xavier

Tipoff: 7:30 p.m. today, Cintas Center (10,250).

Records: Eastern Kentucky 5-4,

Xavier 7-2.

Radio: WKRC-AM (550).

TV: Fox Sports Net.

Series: Xavier leads 10-5.

Line: XU by 30.

EASTERN KENTUCKY

Player	Yr.	Ht.	PPG
Matt Witt	Fr.	6-0	14.2
Shawn Fields	Fr.	6-3	14.0
Michael Hanley	So.	6-6	5.2
Jon Bentley	Jr.	6-9	13.7
Kenyatta Dix	Sr.	6-1	7.3

Coach: Travis Ford (19-43, third

season; 86-74 overall).

XAVIER

Player	Yr.	Ht.	PPG
Lionel Chalmers	Sr.	6-0	14.0
Romain Sato	Jr.	6-5	14.9
Dedrick Finn	Fr.	6-1	4.7
David West	Sr.	6-9	19.6
Anthony Myles	Jr.	6-9	7.6

Coach: Thad Matta (33-8, second season; 57-16 overall).