ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFKnights.com) – The UCF men's basketball team takes to the road to challenge the top team in the American Athletic Conference on Wednesday, as no. 11 Cincinnati welcomes the Knights to town for a 9 p.m. contest on ESPNU.
The Bearcats (21-2, 10-0 AAC) have won 14 straight and have climbed to no. 11 in both the Associated Press and USA Today Coaches' Polls. It will be the second ranked opponent that UCF has taken on this season, having fallen to then no. 3 Villanova 67-57 on Nov. 20.
The Knights (15-8, 6-5 AAC) are coming off just their second ever win over Memphis, leading wire-to-wire to defeat the visiting Tigers 72-57 at CFE Arena on Saturday. Matt Williams led four UCF players in double figures with 20 points on five three-pointers.
At 6-5 in American Athletic Conference play, UCF has already matched its most league wins since joining The American (6-12, 2015-16), and the Knights' 15 total wins are the most they have won since the 2012-13 campaign.
On Wednesday UCF will look to earn its first ever victory over perennial power Cincinnati. The Bearcats hold a 7-0 advantage in the all-time series, which began with a single game in 1983, and has continued with six games in the last three seasons since the inception of the AAC.
While the Knights continue to impress defensively, leading the nation in field goal percentage defense at 35.6 percent and ranking fifth in scoring defense at 61.1 points per game, the Bearcats are right behind them in both categories. Cincinnati is stingy in hold opponents to 61.7 points per game and a 37.1 field goal percentage.
Kyle Washington leads a balanced Cincinnati attack, scoring 13.7 points per game. Jacob Evans, Troy Caupain and Gary Clark are also scoring in double figures for the Bearcats. Caupain, a First Team All-AAC honoree last season, is also among the league leaders with 4.5 assists per contest.
Wednesday's game will air on ESPNU with Bernie Guenther and Mark Wise calling the action. Fans can also listen to the game on FM 96.9 The Game, the iHeart radio app and the UCF Knights app with Marc Daniels on the call.
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