UNLV @ Cincinnati preview

Last Meeting ( Dec 1, 2018 ) Cincinnati 65, UNLV 61

After winning two of three games and taking third place in the Paradise Jam tournament, Cincinnati returns home for four of its next five games. The Bearcats kick off a two-game homestand on Saturday night when they face rebuilding UNLV.

Injuries and blown leads have plagued Cincinnati so far this season. The Bearcats, who have played two of their last four games without reigning American Athletic Conference Player of the Year Jarron Cumberland who has been nursing an ankle injury, used a 16-0 run to take a 54-42 lead midway through the second half in their third-place game against Valparaiso on Monday but were outscored 5-0 in the final 90 seconds of regulation before eventually pulling out an 81-77 overtime victory over the Crusaders. "I told our team we'll find out more once we get through this tournament," first-year coach John Brannen told cincinnati.com. "We've got six, seven games under our belt, and now we have the opportunity to go back and learn this week." UNLV is off to a slow start under first-year head coach T.J. Otzelberger but comes in off a 80-58 home win over Jackson State on Tuesday.

TV: 7 p.m. ET, FSN

ABOUT UNLV (3-5): This is the start of a three-game road trip for the Runnin' Rebels who need to vacate the Thomas & Mack Center for two weeks so the National Finals Rodeo can move in. Guard Amauri Hardy leads the team in scoring with a 18.3 average which ranks third in the Mountain West Conference. Cheikh Mbacke Diong, a 6-11 junior forward, had a career-high 19 points to go with 13 rebounds in the win over Jackson State and leads the team in rebounding (10.8 per game) while 6-7 junior forward Donnie Tillman (12.0 points), a transfer from Utah, and guard Elijah Mitrou-Long (10.9), a grad transfer from Texas, are also scoring in double figures.

ABOUT CINCINNATI (4-2): Cumberland, who missed most of summer workouts and a portion of fall practices due to a lingering foot injury, injured his ankle in a 91-84 overtime loss to Bowling Green in the semifinals of the Paradise Jam and then sat out the Valparaiso game but is listed as a starter in the team's news release for Saturday's game. He leads the Bearcats with a 14.5 scoring average, is the AAC's top returning scorer (18.8) and is the school's first returning conference player of the year since Steve Logan (Conference USA in 2001 and 2002). Chris Vogt, a 7-1 junior center, is second in scoring (13.0) while guards Keith Williams (10.8) and Jaevin Cumberland (10.3), Jarron's cousin, also are averaging in double digits.

TIP-INS

1. Cincinnati is 6-0 against UNLV, including a 65-61 win on Dec. 1, 2018, in the last meeting at the Thomas & Mack Center.

2. UNLV holds the NCAA record for most consecutive games making at least one 3-pointer at 1,078 games, or every game the Runnin' Rebels have played since the 3-point rule was adopted by the NCAA in 1986-87.

3. Vogt leads the AAC and ranks fifth nationally in field-goal percentage, connecting on 31-of-42 shots (73.8 percent).

PREDICTION: Cincinnati 84, UNLV 72