Tulane @ Connecticut preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 19, 2019 ) Tulane 71, Connecticut 87

With Connecticut poised to make a return to the Big East in 2020-21, the goal for the team was to make this a memorable final season in the American Athletic Conference. That still may be possible but the Huskies will have to overcome a rocky start in league play as they prepare to take on Tulane in their AAC home opener on Wednesday night.

Connecticut was battered by Cincinnati 67-51 in its conference opener on New Year's Day and followed that up by absoring a 75-60 beating at South Florida on Saturday. “We’re struggling, we’ve all got to be better,” sophomore Brendan Adams said after the Huskies had an 0-2 start to conference play for the fourth consecutive season. “We’re all down right now, we’ve got to get better.” Tulane was 0-18 while finishing in the basement of the AAC last season but ended its drought by rebounding from an 11-point loss at then-No. 11 Memphis with a 76-71 victory over Cincinnati in its conference home opener. "We are not finishing last," Green Wave coach Ron Hunter told reporters. "I will walk on water, which I can't do. We are not finishing last."

TIME: 9 p.m. ET. TV: CBS Sports Network

ABOUT TULANE (9-5, 1-1 AAC): Guard Christion Thompson, a graduate transfer from Rhode Island, made a strong impression in his first taste of conference play, following up a 17-point performance at Memphis by scoring 20 points and grabbing a game-high nine rebounds versus Cincinnati. Thompson, who leads the team in rebounding (6.4), assists (2.5) and steals (2.0), was 16-for-18 at the free-throw line in the two victories. Leading scorer Teshaun Hightower had a game-high 22 points Saturday.

ABOUT CONNECTICUT (9-5, 0-2): The Huskies had four players averaging in double figures entering league play, but after scoring a combined 111 points in the two losses, only Christian Vital (13.5) is the only one averaging at least 10 points. "We’ve got to spend a lot of time, before we hit the floor Wednesday, soul searching and trying to repair the psyche of guys who have been struggling for a while," coach Dan Hurley said. While the starters labored, freshman James Bouknight scored 10 and 11 points off the bench in the past two.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Connecticut is 7-1 at home this season and has won all seven meetings against the Green Wave.

2. Tulane has committed 10 or fewer turnovers in each of the past six games.

3. Vital scored a total of 17 points in the past two games but had 18 in last season's 87-71 win over Tulane.

PREDICTION: Connecticut 70, Tulane 67