GAME NOTES: For the first time since late in December, the Houston Cougars will try to put a pair of wins together, but they'll have to go through the Connecticut Huskies in an American Athletic Conference bout at Hofheinz Pavilion to do it.

Houston finally put an end to an eight-game losing streak when the team took down Rice, 59-48, in non-conference action on Wednesday. The Cougars are still seeking their first conference win, but only get a little bit of a boost playing at home, where they are just 6-5 this season.

UConn suffered a 70-58 setback at Cincinnati on Thursday night, which ended a win streak of two games. The Huskies are 11-8 this season with a 4-3 mark in AAC play. The defending national champions are also 2-3 away from home.

This meeting will represent the fifth all-time between Connecticut and Houston. The Huskies lead the Cougars in the series, with an 80-43 dominant victory standing out in the most recent clash of the sides back in January of last season.

Connecticut suffered through a sub-par shooting performance against the Bearcats on Thursday night, in which the Huskies traveled to Cincinnati and only connected on 32.8 percent of their tries from the floor. Ryan Boatright did everything he could to prevent the loss, netting 22 points with a 5-of-11 mark shooting from beyond the 3-point line. Amida Brimah chipped in with 13 points, six rebounds and four blocked shots, and Daniel Hamilton contributed 11 points and six boards of his own. Boatright and Hamilton were the only two players to connect on 3-pointers for the Huskies in the game, while the rest of the team went a combined 0-of-8 shooting from distance.

Not many key members of UConn's national championship run from a season ago returned in 2014-15, and while Boatright certainly had a role last year, he's been asked to step in as the team's leader this season. He's done so quite well, currently leading the Huskies and the conference in scoring with 16.8 ppg, also adding in 85 assists and 30 steals to pace Connecticut. He leads a trio of double-digit scorers for UConn this season that includes Brimah's 10.5 ppg mark, and Hamilton's 10.2 ppg. The Huskies as a unit are netting 65.2 ppg this season on 44.9 percent shooting from the floor, while allowing 60.7 ppg to opponents - ranked third in the AAC in terms of scoring defense.

Once conference play started for Houston, it seemed the Cougars shut whatever was working for them off. Houston was 7-4 on the season when conference action began, and since then the team is 1-8 with a lone non-conference win over Rice on Wednesday. The Cougars used a strong second-half effort behind 48 percent shooting to pull ahead of the Owls in the eventual 11-point win, which ended the team's eight-game losing streak. Mikhail McLean netted 14 points to pace the Cougars, while LeRon Barnes chipped in 13 points and Danrad Knowles added 10 with seven rebounds. L.J. Rose scored eight points and dished out a team- high seven assists for Houston, which ended the game shooting 42.3 percent from the field.

Jherrod Stiggers, who scored seven points in the team's win over Rice, tops the Cougars in scoring this season at 14.9 ppg, which ranks fourth in the AAC. His 26 steals are also the most on the squad, and 50 assists sit behind only Rose (74 assists). Knowles (11.1 ppg) and Devonta Pollard (10.5 ppg) round out a trio of double-digit scorers for the Cougars this season. Houston ranks right in the middle of the conference in terms of scoring at 66.0 ppg, but has struggled to contain any opponent with 67.6 ppg allowed - third to last in the AAC. Barnes tops the team in rebounding with 6.5 boards per outing, followed closely by Pollard's 6.2 rpg.

Maybe getting back in the win column against Rice was exactly what the Cougars needed to jump-start their stretch run. But going from a middle-of-the-road Conference USA team to facing the defending national champions is a big leap, and the home advantage for Houston might not be enough to make up the difference.