Connecticut @ Central Florida preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 5, 2019 ) Central Florida 65, Connecticut 53

Central Florida tries to bounce back from its worst loss of the season when it hosts Connecticut on Thursday in an American Athletic Conference game. The Knights had won nine of their last 10 contests before they were routed 77-57 at Memphis on Sunday, getting outrebounded 46-28 - 21-12 offensively - and going 6-for-26 from 3-point range.

"This is a tough, tough loss for us, but we have to go home and regroup," UCF coach Johnny Dawkins told reporters. "This is a great league. Everybody’s going to play well. You have to bring your A game." The Huskies have won two straight after Saturday's 80-60 victory over Wichita State with the backcourt duo of junior Christian Vital (season-high 21 points) and senior Jalen Adams (19 points, 12 rebounds) leading the way. "I feel like we kind of have the best chemistry in the country," Vital told reporters about his relationship with Adams. "Just because we know each other's game so much. We know where we want the ball and then, as you saw, when it's time to take over, we can do that together." UCF prevailed 65-53 on Jan. 5 for its first victory at Connecticut in seven tries behind a season-high 23 points from junior guard Aubrey Dawkins.

TV: 9 p.m. ET, ESPNU

ABOUT UCONN (12-8, 3-4 American): Adams leads the team in scoring at 18.2 points and has averaged 22.8 in his last five games since recording only eight in the first meeting with the Knights. Vital has averaged 16 points in conference games, raising his season average to 13.7 to go along with 5.6 rebounds. Sophomore guard Alterique Gilbert (13.0 points, club-most 3.8 assists) re-injured his left shoulder Saturday and did not practice Monday or Tuesday.

ABOUT UCF (15-4, 5-2): Senior guard B.J. Taylor, the conference preseason player of the year, is bidding to lead the club in scoring for the third straight season with an average of 16.7 points. Dawkins (15.4 points, 5.4 rebounds) was held to two points versus Memphis after averaging 18.8 in his previous five games. Senior 7-6 center Tacko Fall (9.8 points, team-high 7.1 rebounds) leads the conference and was seventh nationally with 2.84 blocks per game entering Wednesday, and paces the American in field-goal shooting at 74.8 percent to help the Knights shoot a conference-best 46.7.

TIP-INS

1. The Huskies used the same starting lineup in their first 20 games: Adams, Vital, Gilbert, sophomore F Josh Carlton (7.8 points, 4.8 rebounds) and sophomore F Tyler Polley (7.5 points).

2. UCF, which has won nine straight at home, is off to its best 19-game start since the 2003-04 team began 16-3 and its best conference start since joining the American in 2013-14.

3. Connecticut is 0-3 in true road games this season after going 6-17 over the previous two campaigns, including 2-9 in 2017-18.

PREDICTION: UCF 79, UConn 74