As recently as Wednesday, some Xavier players were talking about cracking the Top 25. That bold talk contrasted greatly with the hushed humility heard in their postgame news conference late Friday night.

        “We stress all the time to play Xavier basketball,” junior guard Lionel Chalmers said. “That was not Xavier basketball.”

        The 75-55 loss to archrival Cincinnati — XU's worst loss in the series in 37 seasons — was a testament to the growing pains of which new coach Thad Matta had warned.

        It was XU's worst home loss in the series. In the past 20 seasons, XU only once has lost a home game by as many points — LaSalle beat it 80-49 on Jan.23, 2000.

        “We talk about humility all the time with this team,” Matta said Saturday. “We have to learn from this game and say, "Here's the things we didn't do well, things we've got to get better at.'”

        The topics Matta said he'll address were easily visible Friday: Rebounding. Ballhandling. Execution when David West isn't in the game.

        The Bearcats outrebounded XU 45-25. XU (5-3) recorded a season-low five assists, and many of its 11 turnovers led to easy Bearcat baskets. And the Musketeers looked lost when West went down with an ankle injury.

        Matta said the X-rays Saturday on West's right ankle are negative; it's a sprain. He said West will sit out a day or two of practice this week and should be in the starting lineup Thursday against Kent State.

        XU made just 33 percent of its shots in the second half, of which West played just five minutes.

        “If we appeared out of sync, it's because we had guys doing things they hadn't done all year,” Matta said. Those included Kevin Frey playing center and reserve guard Keith Jackson playing power forward.

        XU has been outrebounded in three of its past four games.

        “The No.1 thing (to work on) is going to be the rebounding,” Matta said. “We just have to make it more of an emphasis, come up with the ball when they shoot it. It's a great tape (to study), because that's what Cincinnati did.”

        Two players stood out in the box score Friday: Romain Sato and Dave Young.

        Sato fouled out with 5:17 remaining, the first five-foul game of his career. He had drawn a technical foul two minutes earlier for pushing UC's Immanuel McElroy.

        But that rare emotion had a plus side. Sato scored 15 points, adding four rebounds, two blocks and two steals. The previously tentative sophomore, who took 71 percent of his shots last season from behind the 3-point line, drove aggressively to the goal. Ten of his 13 attempts were inside the arc.

        “Romain played maybe his best game of the year,” Matta said. “He showed some toughness and really battled. That's a huge step for Romain.”

        Young was the opposite extreme. He scored just one point in 28 minutes, attempting just three shots. Since scoring a career-high 19 points at San Francisco, he is averaging just 3.5 points.

        “We've got to get Dave playing better basketball,” Matta said. “He's just got to keep learning.”

        XU was off Saturday but will have four days of practice before Kent State.

        Matta is grateful for the time to teach; it's the longest layoff since the season opener.

        “I don't think this team is playing its best basketball yet,” Matta said. “We can be a good team, but we've got a lot of areas to get better in.”

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