GAME NOTES: A pair of teams hoping to stay in contention in the American Athletic Conference mix it up on Thursday night, as the Connecticut Huskies pay a visit to the Cincinnati Bearcats.

Both teams are in the upper half of the league standings, with UConn sitting at 5-2 in conference, 11-7 overall, and Cincinnati at 5-2 in the AAC, 14-5 on the season.

Tulsa is in first place with an 8-0 league ledger.

The Huskies are fresh off a pair of home wins over UCF (67-60) and USF (66-53), and they came on the heels of a brief two-game slide. Overall, UConn has won five of its last seven bouts, and it is an even 2-2 in true road games this season.

The Bearcats also took down the Knights of UCF recently, doing so on the road this past Sunday in a 56-46 final. UC has now won three in a row, and seven of its last nine overall. Cincy is an impressive 11-1 at home this season, with its lone blemish being a 68-47 setback versus VCU on Dec. 20.

These two teams met on UConn's home floor back on Jan. 10, with the Huskies prevailing in a 62-56 final. As a result, the all-time series leans in favor of Connecticut, 11-5.

Ryan Boatright poured in 28 points and Rodney Purvis came off the bench to pitch in with 17 for Connecticut in its recent win over South Florida. Daniel Hamilton grabbed 10 rebounds for the Huskies, who nearly doubled up the Bulls on the boards (35-18), while outscoring them at the free-throw line, 22-10. Overall, the Huskies shot 46.2 percent from the field, actually performing better from 3-point range (.471), and they got 23 points from their bench compared to only seven for USF.

Boatright continues to pace the Huskies in the scoring column, as he nets 16.5 ppg for a team that produces 65.6 ppg in hitting 45.6 percent of its total shots, which includes a 35.6 percent showing from beyond the arc. Three others lend a hand as Amida Brimah (10.4 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 2.7 bpg), Hamilton (10.1 ppg, 6.3 rpg) and Purvis (9.9 ppg) have been consistent contributors as well. The Huskies have performed well at the defensive end for the most part, as they allow only 60.2 ppg behind typical shooting outputs of only .394 overall and .344 from 3-point land.

For the fifth time this season, the Bearcats held an opponent to 50 points or fewer as they got past UCF in Orlando this past Sunday. The visitors didn't exactly light it up as they tallied a mere 56 points in hitting 40.4 percent of their field goal attempts, which included a 5-of-18 effort out on the perimeter. Kevin Johnson was the only UC player to reach double figures in the game, as he tallied 13 points on the strength of three treys, but it was clearly the Bearcats' defensive stance that led the team to victory as the Knights were limited to 32.7 percent field goal efficiency, including 23.5 percent from distance.

Cincinnati relies on a balanced attack rather than on one or two stars, as evidenced by the fact that there isn't a single player averaging double digits in the scoring column at the moment. Troy Caupin is closest at 9.9 ppg, while Octavius Ellis is right there with 9.5 ppg. The Bearcats are shooting 44.1 percent from the floor, but just 31.3 percent from 3-point range in putting up only 62.8 ppg. Fortunately, opponents are scoring a mere 54.5 ppg behind typical shooting efforts of .383 overall and .323 beyond the arc. Coming up with loose balls has also played an important role, as UC is +5.8 in rebounding margin, with Gary Clark and Ellis spearheading the effort with 7.3 and 6.9 rpg, respectively.

This should be a nip-and-tuck battle between two teams that need to pick up a head of steam if they hope to challenge for the AAC crown, and earn a potential invite to the NCAA Tournament. Expect the Bearcats to exact some revenge for the loss to UConn earlier in the month, as they continue their winning ways at home.