Central Florida @ Houston preview

Last Meeting ( Feb 7, 2019 ) Houston 77, Central Florida 68

Sixth-ranked Houston looks to remain on top of the American Athletic Conference standings and earn its nation-best 34th straight victory at home when surging Central Florida pays a visit on Saturday afternoon. The Cougars have won 12 in a row overall, including a 77-68 triumph at UCF, and outscored its last three opponents by 81 points after a 99-65 victory at East Carolina on Wednesday to sit one game ahead of Cincinnati in the American.

“I think this late in the year, you don’t get overly analytical one way or the other,” Houston coach Kelvin Sampson told reporters. “You know your team by now. The strength of our team is our team. I’ve got a good team. I don’t know that it’s a great team. … We’ve been able to beat just about everybody we’ve played.” Corey Davis Jr. scored 26 points as the Cougars took a big lead Feb. 7 and held off a second-half rally to beat the Knights for the fourth straight time and sixth in the last seven meetings. UCF has won five of six contests since that setback, including a 75-63 victory over rival South Florida on Wednesday, and can record the most regular-season victories since the 2006-07 by beating Houston on Saturday. “I feel like we’re a lot better from that time we played them,” Knights 7-6 senior center Tacko Fall told reporters of the matchup against the Cougars. “We know what to expect now from those guys.”

TV: 4 p.m. ET, ESPN

ABOUT CENTRAL FLORIDA (21-6, 11-4 American): Senior guard B.J. Taylor had 21 points in the first matchup with the Cougars and leads the team in scoring (16.5) while sitting second in the league in made free throws (156). Junior guard Aubrey Dawkins connected on 12-of-20 from 3-point range the last four games to improve his percentage behind the arc to 39.5 overall, and is second on the team in scoring (15.2). Fall has been a major factor the last two games, averaging 20.5 points on 17-of-24 shooting along with 12.5 rebounds, and leads the nation in field-goal percentage (75.6).

ABOUT HOUSTON (27-1, 14-1): Davis, a senior guard, has drained 18 shots from 3-point range and scored 22.3 per game over the last three contests to push his team-leading average to 16.0 with 81 made triples. Junior guard Armoni Brooks adds 13.7 points per game while leading the team in rebounding (6.3) and 3-point makes (96) - connecting on 16 from long range over the past four contests. The Cougars own eight players averaging at least 5.8 points and sophomore guard DeJon Jarreau (8.8) has scored at least 16 in three of the last five games, but was held to four against UCF.

TIP-INS

1. Taylor boasts 1,538 career points and needs eight to move from ninth to seventh on the school’s all-time list.

2. Houston senior G Galen Robinson Jr. is second in the American in assists (5.4) after dishing out nine Wednesday.

3. Fall has won all 27 tip-offs this season and entered the weekend seventh in the nation in blocks (2.59).

PREDICTION: Houston 76, Central Florida 68