Central Florida @ South Florida preview

Last Meeting ( Feb 13, 2019 ) South Florida 65, Central Florida 78

Central Florida and South Florida meet up on Wednesday evening for their second matchup in two weeks, this time at the home of the Bulls. The Knights have dominated the War On I-4 and are seeking their eighth straight victory -- and fourth straight sweep -- over their intrastate rivals after taking this season's first encounter 78-65.

The Bulls entered the first meeting on a five-game roll, but they couldn't get going against the Knights, who have beaten USF by an average of 11 points during their seven-game winning streak. The Bulls haven't won a conference game since, losing three straight, but they are hoping the tide will turn as they return home, where they have won 14 of 17 games this season. "We've got to do a better job this time around in taking some of their stuff away," USF head coach Brian Gregory said about the second meeting with UCF. "You can't give up 3s, you can't give up deep post-ups and you can't give up penetration. ... We're playing one of the best defenses in the country so when we get open shots, we have to be really, really efficient and finish those plays." That tough UCF defense comes off arguably its most dominating performance of the season in a 95-48 victory over SMU as the Knights earned their largest margin of victory since 2010 as they limited the Mustangs to just 24.6 percent shooting from the floor -- the lowest opponent field goal percentage since Stetson managed 22.1 on Nov. 30, 2016.

TV: 7 p.m. ET, ESPN3

ABOUT USF (18-9, 7-7 American): Sophomore guard David Collins is the team's leading scorer (15.3 ppg) and has hit the 20-point barrier in 20 games, including a 20-point effort in the recent loss to UCF. The team needs a strong effort on the boards from redshirt freshman Alexis Yetna, who leads the conference with 9.7 rebounds per game and had 12 against UCF. Laquincy Rideau is averaging 13.3 points per game but struggled against the Knights, hitting just 3-of-17 shots, although he did come up with five steals and sits seventh in the nation with 2.9 takeaways per game.

ABOUT UCF (20-6, 10-4): UCF's dominance against SMU was sparked by the play of 7-6 center Tacko Fall, who registered a season-high 23 points and a career-best 20 rebounds as he became the first Knight to produce a 20-20 game in the team's Division I era and only the second in school history to pull down 20 boards (Paul Reed, 2001). Fall led the Knights with 21 points and nine rebounds in the first meeting with USF but seniors B.J. Taylor (16.6 ppg) and Aubrey Dawkins (15.3) are the top scorers for an offense that is No. 1 in the American in field goal percentage (47.0), shooting over 50 percent in nine games, with the team coming up just short in the win over SMU (49.3 percent). Led by Fall, the Knights dominated the glass 58-35 against SMU, their sixth-highest single-game rebound total and their most since they had 59 against Nicholls (Nov. 14, 2016).

TIP-INS

1. Despite losing the last seven meetings, USF still owns a 22-16 advantage over UCF, including a 12-7 edge in Tampa.

2. The Knights play three of their last four on the road, where they are just 3-4 this season.

3. The Bulls can tie the school mark for home victories in a season (15) with a win over the Knights.

PREDICTION: UCF 70, USF 63