Texas-Arlington @ Houston preview

Houston looks for a fourth straight win when it hosts Texas-Arlington in a non-conference contest on Wednesday night. The Cougars are coming off an easy 20-point win at South Carolina on Sunday, while the Mavericks have dropped two in a row, including a four-point loss to UC Santa Barbara on Saturday.

Sophomore guard David Azore leads Texas-Arlington in scoring at 12.6 points per game despite the fact he has yet to lead the team in scoring in a game this season. Senior guard Brian Warren is the only other double-figure scorer on the Mavericks at 11.1 points per game, though six different players have led the team in scoring in a game this season. Houston has a balanced attack with four double-figure scorers in the starting lineup, led by sophomore guard Quentin Grimes (17.9 points, 3.6 assists). Sophomore guard Nate Hinton is nearly averaging a double-double with 12 points and 9.1 rebounds per contest.

TV: 8 p.m. ET, No TV.

ABOUT TEXAS-ARLINGTON (4-6): Depth has been a problem for Mavericks coach Chris Ogden, who has had to go with just eight players in recent games due to injuries. Sophomore forward Patrick Mwamba is out indefinitely with a broken foot suffered in mid-November, while senior forward TiAndre Jackson-Young (broken nose/concussion) and junior forward Coleman Sparling (foot injury) have missed the last two games and are questionable for this contest. Out of the trio's production of nearly 12 points and 10 rebounds per game, just having some fresh bodies off the bench to spell starters is key, as Azore played nearly 38 minutes and senior forward Jabari Narcis logged over 31 in the Mavericks' last game.

ABOUT HOUSTON (5-2): Since a season-low eight-point performance in a loss to Oregon on Nov. 22, Grimes has been on a tear, averaging 20.6 points per game over the last three contests. The Kansas transfer has been counted on to be the leader of the Cougars this season, and he's starting to develop into that role more and more as the season progresses. Grimes earned American Athletic Conference Player of the Week honors for his two 20-plus-point efforts in the team's last two games, as he matched his season high for field-goal attempts in each contest.

TIP-INS

1. Warren and Azore are 4-5 in the Sun Belt Conference in assist-to-turnover ratio, with Warren (38:19) just slightly above Azore (39:20) though both are at just over 2.0.

2. The Cougars lead the American Athletic Conference in three-point field-goal percentage, hitting 37.6 percent from beyond the arc.

3. A win in this game for Houston would make Kelvin Sampson the fourth-winningest coach in school history with 122 victories, breaking a tie with Tom Penders.

PREDICTION: Houston 82, Texas-Arlington 71