Houston @ Tulane preview

Last Meeting ( Feb 11, 2018 ) Tulane 42, Houston 73

Ranked this week in the Top-10 for the first time since 1983-84, Houston seeks a 10th straight win when it travels to play a struggling Tulane squad on Sunday. The Green Wave are winless in American Athletic Conference play, have dropped 13 straight overall and 41 consecutive games to teams ranked in the AP Top 25 since beating North Carolina State 73-62 in 1999.

Houston, which opened the season with 15 straight wins, opened the second half on Thursday with a 17-4 run to beat Connecticut 71-63 for its fifth straight road win. Sophomore guard DeJon Jarreau had 18 points and seven assists, while junior guard Armoni Brooks added 12 points as the Cougars drained 11-of-21 shots from the arc and resembled the Phi Slama Jama crew of the mid-1980s with eight dunks. Tulane shot 27.6 percent from the floor on Thursday against Tulsa en route to an 80-57 defeat - its 14th straight loss against conference foes. The Green Wave have dropped 10 straight AAC home games with their last win an 81-72 win over Houston on Jan. 17, 2018.

TV: 2 p.m. CBS Sports Network

ABOUT HOUSTON (24-1, 11-1 American): The Cougars' bench, led by Jarreau (8.8 points), who had his previous season high of 16 points against Cincinnati in his previous game, outscored UConn's 42-9. Corey Davis Jr., a 6-1 senior and arguably the leading candidate for AAC Player of the Year, averages a team-high 15.3 points to go with 3.4 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 63 3-pointers and shoots 89 percent on a team-high 82 free-throw attempts. Brooks is the other double-digit scorer - averaging 13.7 points - and the 6-3 guard leads the team in rebounds (6.4), 3-pointers (AAC-leading 84) and 3-point percentage (38.5).

ABOUT TULANE (4-19, 0-11): Sophomore Caleb Daniels, senior Jordan Cornish and freshman Connor Crabtree each finished in double figures against Tulsa with 13, 12 and 11 points, respectively. "We had some really good looks that we just did not make," coach Mike Dunleavy Sr. said. "We can't get beat on 50-50 balls and that really hurt us in the early going." Daniels leads the team in scoring (15.5 points) while adding five rebounds and three assists per game, 6-9 junior Samir Sehic chips in 11.2 points and 7.8 rebounds and Cornish adds 11 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.9 assists.

TIP-INS

1. The teams split last season with each winning on its home court, but the Cougars have won six of the last eight overall and four of the last five at Tulane.

2. Houston ranks second nationally in field-goal percentage defense (36.5), tied for fourth in 3-point percentage defense (27.2) and sixth in scoring defense (60.8 points).

3. The Cougars are within eight wins of their all-time high of 32 set during the 1983-84 season, a team led by Hakeem Olajuwon and Michael Young that lost to Georgetown in the national finals.

PREDICTION: Houston 75, Tulane 63