GAME NOTES: With each side trying to pull out of a two-game skid, the UCF Knights will hit the road to face the Houston Cougars in an American Athletic Conference battle at Hofheinz Pavilion on Tuesday.

UCF hasn't exactly overwhelmed this season, as the Knights are already off to an 0-2 start in conference play, and are 0-3 on the road entering this matchup with the Cougars. UCF has dropped two straight games to Tulsa (56-54) and Temple (84-78) to slip to 7-6 on the season.

Houston hasn't performed any better at the start of conference play. The Cougars are 0-2 as well, having dropped back-to-back games against Memphis (73-54) and Tulsa (72-54), which dropped the team to 7-6 as well. The Cougars do own a solid 5-2 mark at home, which is encouraging for them heading into this clash.

Houston owns a 9-7 all-time series lead over UCF, although the Knights won last, 104-83, in March. In fact, Central Florida has taken three of the past four contests against Houston.

Temple didn't shoot the ball much better than UCF in Sunday's AAC clash (45.6 percent for the Owls to 45.5 percent for the Knights), but the home squad was able to grab a commanding 38-26 lead over the Knights by halftime, which effectively buried them the rest of the way. Freshman sensation B.J. Taylor continued to impress for the Knights though, with a 21-point effort to lead the team in scoring. Daiquan Walker netted 17 points, Adonys Henriquez added 14 and Brandon Goodwin chipped in with 12 points, seven rebounds and five assists.

Taylor enters this matchup with Houston leading the team in scoring at 14.2 ppg, which is tied for seventh in the AAC this season. Taylor's 46.3 percent shooting touch from 3-point distance, however, is the best mark in the conference, which is followed up by Henriquez's 45.6 percent mark from beyond the arc. Henriquez checks in behind Taylor in scoring with 11.9 ppg as the only other UCF player to own a double-digit scoring average. The Knights as a team are netting 67.1 ppg, but have struggled in the defensive department, as they allow 69.2 ppg to opponents.

Houston was simply overmatched offensively by Tulsa in the Cougars' latest outing on Sunday. The visitors could only connect on 35.8 percent of their shots from the floor in the loss, as Tulsa was able to grab the lead not even halfway through the opening half. Jherrod Stiggers paced Houston in scoring with 17 points, while L.J. Rose contributed 12 points and six assists. Stiggers and Danrad Knowles each grabbed a team-best five rebounds in the defeat.

Stiggers leads Houston this season in scoring with 16.8 ppg, which is good for second behind UConn's Ryan Boatright in the conference. Stiggers also owns a team high in assists (34), although the guard has given the ball away to opponents 46 times this season. Devonta Pollard checks in with 11.8 ppg, and Rose, who has only played in six games, adds 10.3 ppg this season. The Cougars as a whole are netting 69.2 ppg, which is slightly better than what opponents are scoring against them (67.8 ppg). Pollard's 7.2 rpg mark is the best on Houston this season.

With a 5-2 record at home going against a team that is 0-3 on the road, Houston's best opportunity to get back in the win column is with this contest. But the Cougars have to be on point - not just Stiggers. The same goes for UCF and Taylor. The comforts of Hofheinz Pavilion should be enough to propel Houston to a win.