Houston @ Cincinnati preview

Last Meeting ( Mar 17, 2019 ) Cincinnati 69, Houston 57

Houston hits the road Saturday in need of a win at Cincinnati to remain alone atop the standings in the tightly contested American Athletic Conference. The No. 20 Cougars lead Tulsa by one-half game, Cincinnati by one and No. 22 Wichita State by 1.5 games.

Cincinnati and Houston are among the hottest teams in the AAC. The Bearcats have won three in a row and the Cougars are riding a five-game winning streak. Cincinnati has proved especially tough to beat at home this season, winning nine of its 10 games in Fifth Third Arena. Meanwhile, Houston boasts the best road record in the conference at 3-1 and won for the first time in 2019 in 17 all-time visits to Cincinnati.

TIME: 6 p.m. ET. TV: ESPN2

ABOUT HOUSTON (17-4, 7-1 AAC): One of the reasons the Cougars have put together their current winning streak is the emergence of redshirt freshman guard Caleb Mills, who's averaging 13.1 points coming off the bench for the season and 16.3 in the last seven games after scoring a team-high 18 in a 69-59 victory over East Carolina on Wednesday night. Nate Hinton (10.4 points) is one of four players averaging in double figures, and the 6-foot-5 guard also leads the team in rebounding at 9.3. Kansas transfer Quentin Grimes averages 12.4 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.6 assists.

ABOUT CINCINNATI (13-7, 6-2): Senior Jarron Cumberland is coming off a season-best 28-point, nine-rebound effort in a 65-43 rout of SMU on Tuesday to boost his scoring average to a team-best 14.9. Chris Vogt, a 7-foot-1 center, is the team's second-leading scorer at 13 points per game and ranks seventh nationally in field goal accuracy at 66.9 percent. The Bearcats stepped up their defense against SMU, holding the Mustangs to a season-low point total and 25.9 percent shooting from the field.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Houston leads the country in rebounding margin at plus-10.2.

2. Cumberland is the AAC's second-leading scorer in conference games, and also ranks second in assists and 3-point field goal percentage.

3. Houston's only AAC loss was by two points to Tulsa, and its other three setbacks came by a combined 19 points to BYU, Oregon and Oklahoma State..

PREDICTION: Houston 69, Cincinnati 68