Cincinnati Battles No. 21 Tennessee on Wednesday

No. 21 TENNESSEE (7-2) at  CINCINNATI (6-4)
Wednesday, Dec. 18 // 7 p.m. ET
Fifth Third Arena // Cincinnati, Ohio
SERIES INFO: Seventh Meeting; Cincinnati leads 5-1; Cincinnati leads 3-0 in Cincinnati and 2-1 in Knoxville, Tenn. 
LAST MEETING: Cincinnati won 79-58 on Jan. 4, 1993 at the Shoemaker Center (now Fifth Third Arena) in Cincinnati
STREAK: Cincinnati - Won 2
COACHES: John Brannen is in his first season at Cincinnati (6-4); fifth season overall (88-56)
Rick Barnes is in his fifth season at Tennessee (95-52); 33rd season overall (699-366)
AP/USA TODAY RANKINGS (DEC. 16): Cincinnati (--/--); Tennessee (21/21)
RADIO: 700 WLW; Dan Hoard provides play-by-play with color analyst Terry Nelson
TV: ESPN2; Kevin Brown provides play-by-play with color analyst Bryce Drew
JOIN THE CONVERSATION (TWITTER, FACEBOOK & INSTAGRAM): @GoBearcatsMBB or GoBearcatsMBB

// GAME PREVIEW 

• The University of Cincinnati (6-4) men's basketball team wraps up its non-league home schedule Wednesday when it plays host to No. 21 Tennessee at 7 p.m. ET at Fifth Third Arena. The game will be broadcast on ESPN2 and 700 WLW.
• Fans are encouraged to wear black.
• The Bearcats fell short to Colgate, 67-66, Saturday at Fifth Third Arena. Chris Vogt scored a game-high 16 points on 7-of-8 shooting with seven rebounds. Keith Williams poured in 15 points with seven rebounds, four steals and three blocks. Jaevin Cumberland added 13 points. 
• Tennessee (7-2) also dropped a close decision at home Saturday, falling to Memphis, 51-47. Josiah-Jordan James led the Volunteers with 14 points, a trio of 3-pointers and three steals. 
• UC leads the series with Tennessee 5-1 overall. The two squads haven't played since the Bearcats registered a 
• 79-58 home victory on Jan. 4, 1993.  
• UP NEXT: Cincinnati concludes its nonconference schedule on Saturday, Dec. 21 when it battles Iowa at the Chicago Legends event at the United Center. The game tips at 9 p.m. ET on the Big Ten Network and 700 WLW. 

// SCOUTING TENNESSEE

• Tennessee boasts four players averaging double figures led by senior guard Jordan Bowden (12.9 points, 4.4 rebounds, team-best 17 3-pointers). 
• Senior guard Lamonte Turner (12.8 points, 3.9 rebounds 7.1 assists), a second team All-SEC preseason honoree, entered Sunday ranked sixth in the nation with 7.1 assists per game.
• Junior swingman Yves Pons (11.9 points, 5.2 rebounds) leads the squad with 20 blocks. 
• The Volunteers haven't allowed an opponent to score 70 points in a game all season. Through Saturday, UT ranked ninth in the nation in both scoring defense (55.3 points allowed) and field goal percentage defense (.362). 
• A win Wednesday would give Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes 600 victories for his career. Now in his 33rd season, Barnes leads all active coaches with 24 NCAA Tournament berths. He won two national coach of the year awards in 2019-20.
• A year ago, the Vols finished 31-6 overall, tied for second in the SEC with a 15-3 league mark and advanced to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 before falling to Purdue. 
• The Vols were picked to finish fifth in the SEC in 2019-20 according to a preseason poll of select SEC and national media members. 

// TENNESSEE SERIES HISTORY

• Cincinnati has won five of six meetings in its series with Tennessee but the two programs haven't played since the Bearcats registered a 79-58 victory on Jan. 4, 1993 at the Shoemaker Center (now Fifth Third Arena). The Bearcats leads the series 3-0 in Cincinnati and 2-1 in Knoxville. 
• Tennessee's victory came by a 76-68 result on Dec. 10, 1956 in Knoxville, Tenn.
• RECORD vs. THE SEC: Cincinnati owns a 42-51 record against current teams in the Southeastern Conference: Alabama (2-1); Arkansas (3-1); Auburn (0-0), Florida (0-1), Georgia (1-0); Kentucky (11-28); LSU (1-0); Ole Miss (1-1); Mississippi State (3-3); Missouri (1-0); South Carolina (7-14); Tennessee (5-1), Texas A&M (1-0) and Vanderbilt (6-1).

// CINCINNATI STORYLINES

• Chris Vogt entered Sunday ranked seventh in the nation and first in the AAC, shooting 69.2 percent (54 of 78) from the field. He has shot at least 50 percent from the floor while scoring 10 or more points in nine consecutive games. His field-goal shooting percentage currently ranks first in school history for a single season.  
• Keith Williams is averaging a team-high 16.8 points along with 7.2 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 2.2 steals over the last five games.  
• Jarron Cumberland needs 18 points to move past Yancy Gates (1,485 points from 2009-12) for 15th place on UC's all-time scoring list. He enters 
• Wednesday's game with 1,468 career points.
• The Bearcats are 53-4 at home since the start of the 2016-17 season. 
• Wednesday's matchup with No. 21 Tennessee marks the first time new UC head coach John Brannen has faced an Associated Press Top 25 opponent at home during his 5-year head coaching career. He is 0-4 against AP Top 25 foes during the regular-season - all on the road - including a 66-65 setback at then-No. 18 Ohio State in UC's 2019-20 season opener. 
• The first edition of the 2019-20 NET rankings was released Monday. Cincinnati's schedule (30 regular-season games) currently features 22 games against teams listed in the NET's Top 150. 
• Among UC's non-league foes: Ohio State (1), Tennessee (25), Iowa (33), Xavier (71) and Vermont (92) were listed in the NET's Top 100 on Monday.  
• CBSSports.com listed UC's non-league schedule tied with Kansas and North Carolina for the third toughest in the nation before the start of the season.