Cincinnati @ Central Florida preview

Last Meeting ( Mar 7, 2019 ) Cincinnati 55, Central Florida 58

Cincinnati will be in search of back-to-back wins for the first time since late November on Saturday in an American Athletic Conference game against Central Florida in Orlando. The Bearcats also have yet to win a true road game this season.

The win-one-lose-one rut began in December and has extended into the start of conference play for Cincinnati, which beat Connecticut on Jan. 1, lost at Tulane last Saturday and returned home to rout Tulsa on Wednesday night. The Bearcats have shown signs recently that they could be coming together under first-year coach John Brannen, particularly through the play of Jarron Cumberland. The senior standout scored a game-high 22 points against Tulsa, cousin Jaevin Cumberland added 16 and 7-2 center Chris Vogt finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds. UCF has lost four straight games, including its first three in the AAC, during a rebuilding year after reaching the NCAA Tournament last March.

TIME: Noon ET. TV: ESPN2

ABOUT CINCINNATI (9-6, 2-1 AAC): Jarron Cumberland has stepped up his game in January, averaging 15.7 points and 6.3 assists since the start of AAC play. Fellow senior Trevon Scott has remained steady, averaging 8.5 points and a team-leading nine rebounds for the season. Vogt is right behind Cumberland, averaging 13.5 points and 6.8 rebounds, and junior Keith Williams is a steady contributor as the Bearcats' third-leading scorer at 12.1 points.

ABOUT UCF (9-6, 0-3): Collin Smith, a 6-foot-11 forward and the lone returning starter from last season's successful team, averages 13.5 points and 6.5 rebounds and likely will be matched up against Vogt. Guard Ceasar DeJesus, a starter two seasons ago, is providing 11.1 points per game and shooting 38.7 percent on 3-pointers after scoring 19 points in the Knights' 81-74 loss Wednesday at SMU. Dazon Ingram, a 6-6 graduate transfer from Alabama, leads the Golden Knights in rebounding with 7.5 per game and Matt Milon, another grad transfer from William and Mary, saw extended time against SMU, scoring 19 points on 5-of-9 shooting from 3-point range, and could be an X-factor off the bench against Cincinnati.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Vogt ranks second in the country and first in the AAC in field goal shooting, making 71.4 percent of his 119 attempts.

2. The Cumberlands combined for eight 3-pointers against Tulsa, and Jarron also collected eight assists and seven rebounds while making 4-of-6 3-point shots.

3. UCF has won two of the last three meetings with Cincinnati in its home arena.

PREDICTION: Cincinnati 64, UCF 60