By Dustin Dow
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Romain Sato works on free thows at the Cintas Center Thursday. (Ernest Coleman photo) | ZOOM |

Each is capable of beating an opponent from behind the 3-point line or by driving to the basket. Their all-around offensive skills make them invaluable.

Yet Cincinnati's Leonard Stokes and Xavier's Romain Sato could have just as much impact, if not more, on the defensive side of today's Skyline Chili Crosstown Shootout.

Stokes and Sato probably will spend much of the afternoon guarding each other, which could make for an interesting matchup with the two best defenders going head to head.

"I think it will be big, but we depend on a lot of help from other guys, so it's not just an individual," Stokes said.

At 6 feet 6, Stokes is an inch taller than Sato. A big part of Sato's defense is rebounding, where he leads Xavier with 9.3 per game; Stokes averages 3.3 rebounds.

But stopping one another will be the key, and Sato said it's easier said than done with Stokes.

"I'm not going to stop him completely," Sato said. "But I'll do the best I can."

Sato will want to play better defense on Stokes than Tennessee Tech did. Stokes scored 15 straight points in the second half to lead UC to a season-opening comeback victory over Tech.

Leonard Stokes shoots during practice Tuesday. (Steven M. Herppich photo) | ZOOM |

"I don't know how much I'm going to guard Stokes," Sato said, "but he's a good player. I'll need some help."

To stop Sato, Stokes could have watched a tape of the Purdue game and seen that playing almost full-denial defense is a good way to limit Sato's shots. The Boilermakers held him scoreless on four first-half shot attempts Tuesday. But for that to work, the rest of the team has to stop other players such as David West and Lionel Chalmers, which Purdue was unable to accomplish.

Xavier coach Thad Matta said Sato's defense on Stokes is important, but it's not going to decide the game. Other players' defense will be more critical, he said.

"As crazy as that sounds, because they're (UC) so hard to guard," Matta said. "You have to play great team defense."

While Stokes' primary concern will be Sato, Cincinnati might be more concerned about limiting West's touches down low. He'll be playing against a much more inexperienced UC front line.

"We've struggled against size inside," Bearcats coach Bob Huggins said. "And we can't score a lot of points, so we have to play good defense. They've got a guy (West) who's one of the candidates for player of the year, and Sato's terrific."

E-mail ddow@enquirer.com