Central Florida @ Cincinnati preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 11, 2020 ) Cincinnati 68, Central Florida 54

Cincinnati begins the final three weeks of the regular season holding a share of first place in the American Athletic Conference and facing a rematch against Central Florida on Wednesday night. The Bearcats will go for a season sweep after securing a 68-54 victory on Jan. 11 in the first meeting between the teams.

Since conference play started on Jan. 1, Cincinnati's three losses have all come on the road. The Bearcats' last three games have gone to overtime and they've won two, beating Memphis 92-86 on Feb. 13 and East Carolina 70-67 on Sunday to pull into a tie with Houston for the top spot in the AAC. Cincinnati's only loss in its last eight games came in overtime at Connecticut on Feb. 9. Central Florida has dropped four of its last six games and has never won in Cincinnati in five previous trips.

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

ABOUT UCF (13-11, 4-8 AAC): Collin Smith, UCF's leading scorer at 12.2 points per game, finished with 19 points, nine rebounds and four assists in the first matchup with Cincinnati in January. Ceasar DeJesus is the only other player averaging in double figures at 10.5 ppg, and Dazon Ingram leads the team in rebounding with 7.4 per game. Freshman Darin Green Jr. has emerged as a scoring threat, leading UCF in scoring the last two games with 26 points in an 83-75 victory over Tulsa on Feb. 9 and 13 in a 75-58 loss to Wichita State on Feb. 13.

ABOUT CINCINNATI (17-8, 10-3): The Bearcats pulled out a game they were in danger of losing at East Carolina on Sunday when freshman Zach Harvey, who came on after UC standout Jarron Cumberland fouled out, hit a game-tying 3-pointer with 25 seconds left in regulation and then Keith Williams took over the overtime, scoring six of his game-high 17 points. No one is playing better than Trevon Scott, who matched a career high with 25 points and grabbed a career-best 19 rebounds in the OT win over Memphis last week. In Scott's last three games, he's averaging 21.3 points and 14.7 rebounds and shooting 62.5 percent (25 of 40) from the field.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Cincinnati doesn't want any game to come down to a free throw shooting contest considering it ranks 289th nationally at 66.7 percent after hitting just 34 of 63 foul shots (54 percent) in the past two games.

2. Scott, the reigning AAC player of the week, leads the conference in rebounding with 10.0 per game, Cumberland is one of four Cincinnati players with a scoring average in double figures at 15.0 points per game, and teammate Chris Vogt ranks second nationally in field goal percentage at .670.

3. UCF has gone 7-1 when making eight or more 3-pointers in a game, but hit just 1 of 9 for 11.1 percent against Cincinnati in the first meeting this season.

PREDICTION: Cincinnati 75, UCF 53