Memphis @ Cincinnati preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 16, 2020 ) Cincinnati 49, Memphis 60

A pair of American Athletic Conference teams in need of resume boosters meet Thursday when Memphis visits Cincinnati. Both teams had winning streaks snapped with narrow losses over the weekend, which left the Bearcats a game out of first place in the conference and Memphis tied for fourth - 2 1/2 back of AAC-leading Houston entering Wednesday.

Cincinnati enjoyed a five-game run to push itself into the NCAA Tournament bubble picture, but that ended with a thud in Sunday's 72-71 overtime loss at Connecticut. "We probably had more lives than we deserved in regulation and overtime," Bearcats coach John Brannen told reporters after his team lost an early 10-point advantage and then coughed up narrow leads late. "We just didn't take advantage of them." The Tigers were left with a similar feeling following a 75-73 setback against South Florida on Saturday that ended a three-game winning streak and damaged their NCAA Tournament chances. "It's obvious that if you lose to a team that's 11-12 and 4-6 in your conference right now it doesn't bode well for NCAA terms," coach Penny Hardaway told the media. "But, there's a lot of season left."

TIME: 7 p.m. ET. TV: ESPN

ABOUT MEMPHIS (17-6, 6-4 American): Saturday's defeat was made even more crushing when the team lost its leading active scorer and rebounder - freshman forward Precious Achiuwa (14.7, 9.8) - with an undisclosed injury that leaves his status for Thursday in doubt. Sophomore guard Tyler Harris (8.4 points) picked up a lot of the slack when Achiuwa went down, tying his season high with 17 points while making 5-of-7 from 3-point range. Sophomore guard Alex Lomax, who averages 7.4 points and is the team's leader with 4.3 assists per contest, chipped in with 14 points Saturday - his best total since Dec. 3.

ABOUT CINCINNATI (15-8, 8-3): Leading scorer Jarron Cumberland (15.1) will be looking to bounce back after he was 1-of-11 from the floor at UConn, although he did hand out a career-high 10 assists and ranks second in the AAC with 4.6 per game. Fellow senior Tre Scott, the team's top rebounder (9.5), broke out for a career-high 25 points in the loss to go along with 13 rebounds and four steals. Junior Keith Williams, who chips in 12.3 points per contest, finished with 14 on Sunday for his fifth straight double-digit effort.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Tigers freshman G Lester Quinones is averaging 15 points over his last three games to push his season mark to 10.7.

2. Bearcats junior C Chris Vogt leads the AAC in field-goal percentage (67.6) and shot a combined 14-of-19 over the past three contests.

3. Cincinnati won six straight meetings before Memphis claimed a 60-49 victory in the first matchup this season, holding the Bearcats to a season-low 30 percent from the floor.

PREDICTION: Cincinnati 67, Memphis 64