GAME NOTES: The Cincinnati Bearcats will play their first American Athletic Conference road game of the 2014-15 season on Saturday when they take on the Connecticut Huskies at the XL Center.

The Bearcats picked up their fourth win in a row and improved to 2-0 in AAC play on Tuesday with a 69-48 rout of East Carolina. Cincinnati has outscored its opposition by an average of 16.8 points per game during its active winning streak. The Bearcats will conclude their two-game road swing at Memphis on Jan. 15. Coach Mick Cronin's squad has made a name for itself as one of the top defensive units in the nation, ranking seventh in scoring defense with an allowance of only 54.1 ppg. Cincinnati has not allowed an opponent to score 70 points or more in its last 18 games to tie New Mexico for the longest streak among Division I schools.

The defending national champions return home to Hartford after two straight road wins over Florida (63-59) and South Florida (58-44). The victory over the Bulls improved UConn to 8-5 overall and 1-1 in AAC action. Surprisingly, the Huskies are just 3-3 at home this season. The 44 points by USF marked the lowest total for a Huskies' opponent this campaign, as the Bulls became the seventh team to fail to shoot at least 40 percent in a game against the UConn. Coach Kevin Ollie's unit is also playing excellent defense, as it ranks second in the AAC with an opponent's average of 59.7 ppg.

The Huskies have accumulated a 10-5 all-time record against the Bearcats, including a 2-0 mark in games played in Hartford.

The Bearcats have managed to amass an 11-3 record despite not having a single player with a double-digit scoring average. Junior forward Octavius Ellis, who is leading the team with 9.9 ppg, is the only player in the AAC to rank in the top five in the league in blocks (third at 2.5), field-goal shooting (third at 61.3 percent) and rebounds (fourth at 7.3). The 6-foot-10 forward is averaging 10.8 points while shooting 64.1 percent from the field to go with 6.3 rebounds, 2.5 blocks and 1.5 steals over the last six games. Sophomore guard Troy Caupain is second on the team with 9.2 ppg, while rookie forward Gary Clark is contributing 8.1 ppg and a team-high 7.7 rpg. Ellis and Kevin Johnson tied for the team-lead with 12 points apiece against ECU. Clark pulled down a career-high 16 boards versus the Pirates.

UConn lost a superstar in Shabazz Napier to graduation at the end of last season, but it still has one of the best leaders in the country in senior guard Ryan Boatright, who is racking up a team-best 16.8 ppg, to go along with 4.9 rpg, 4.1 apg and 1.8 spg. Last time out Boatright tallied 10 points to reach double-figures for the sixth time in the last seven games, while sophomore center Amida Brimah led all scorers with 13 points to go along with eight rebounds and a season-high six blocks. The sophomore big man, who has averaged 12.5 points and 7.0 rebounds in conference play this year, is ranked second among AAC players with 2.9 blocks per tilt.

Cincinnati usually thrives off of its opposition's mistakes, converting turnovers into points at a very high rate. There may not be too many opportunities to capitalize on miscues with Boatright guiding the ship for UConn. The Bearcats, who ranked last in the AAC in offensive production, will have trouble finding ways to score if they are forced to play in the half court too much.