Bearcats Return to the Court Tuesday vs. SMU

SMU (15-4, 5-2 AAC) at  CINCINNATI (12-7, 5-2 AAC)
Tuesday, Jan. 28 // 7 p.m. ET
Fifth Third Arena // Cincinnati, Ohio
SERIES INFO: 19th meeting; Cincinnati leads 13-5 overall; Cincinnati leads 8-0 in Cincinnati;
Series is tied 3-3 in Dallas and 2-2 neutral sites 
STREAK: Cincinnati - 6
2018-19 MEETINGS: Cincinnati won 73-68 on Feb. 2 in Cincinnati and 52-49 on Feb. 27 in Dallas;
Cincinnati won 82-74 in the quarterfinals of the AAC Championship on Mar. 15 in Memphis, Tenn.
COACHES: John Brannen is in his first season at Cincinnati (12-7); fifth season overall (94-59)
Tim Jankovich is in his fourth season at SMU (86-42); 13th season overall (243-163)
AP/USA TODAY RANKINGS (JAN. 27): Cincinnati (--/--); SMU (RV/--)
RADIO: 700 WLW; Dan Hoard provides play-by-play with color analyst Terry Nelson
TV: ESPNews; Mike Corey provides play-by-play with color analyst Sean Harrington
JOIN THE CONVERSATION (TWITTER, FACEBOOK & INSTAGRAM): @GoBearcatsMBB or GoBearcatsMBB

// GAME PREVIEW 

• Cincinnati (12-7, 5-2 American) returns home to host SMU (15-4, 5-2) on Tuesday night at Fifth Third Arena. Tipoff is 7 p.m. ET on ESPNews and 700 WLW. 
• The Bearcats earned their second straight win and fourth in their past five games Wednesday, Jan. 19, posting an 89-82 victory at Temple. Jarron Cumberland scored 21 of his team-high 22 points in the second half while finishing with a game-high six assists. Trevon Scott produced his fourth double-double in league play with 16 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Chris Vogt posted 18 points while Jaevin Cumberland hit four 3-pointers as part of a 15-point effort. 
• SMU rallied from 12 points down with seven minutes left to earn a 74-70 road win at No. 20 Memphis on Saturday. Kendric Davis led four Mustangs in double figures with 20 points and five assists. 
• Cincinnati leads its series with SMU 13-5 overall, including an 8-0 mark in Cincinnati. The Bearcats won all three meetings a year ago to extend their win streak to six games in the series.   
• UP NEXT: UC plays host to Houston on Saturday, Feb. 1. Tip time is 6 p.m. ET on ESPN2 and 700 WLW.  

// CINCINNATI STORYLINES

• Jarron Cumberland was named to the AAC Weekly Honor Roll on Monday for the second straight week. He scored a team-high 22 points with a game-best six assists in UC's 89-82 win at Temple on Wednesday. He scored 21 of his 22 points in the second half and accounted for 14 of UC's 16 points in the final two minutes of the game, including 10 of 10 shooting from the foul line. 
• Chris Vogt entered Monday's action ranked third in the nation, shooting 68.7 percent (103 of 150) from the field. He has shot at least 50 percent from the floor in 16 of 19 games this season and has shot 75 percent or better nine times. 
• Trevon Scott ranks among the AAC's leaders in steals (T1st at 2.6), defensive rebounds (2nd at 7.4), rebounds (3rd at 9.7),  assists (T10th at 3.4), assist-to-turnover ratio (T11th at 1.3) and blocks (T11th at 1.0) with four double-doubles in league action.
• The Bearcats are 57-4 (.934) at home since the start of 2016-17, including a 28-2 (.933) mark against AAC teams.
• UC entered Monday listed 58th in the NET rankings with 25 of its 30 regular-season games (or 83.3 percent) coming against opponents ranked in the Top 150 of the NET rankings.

// SCOUTING SMU

• SMU has won three in a row after winning at No. 20 Memphis on Saturday. The Mustangs are 4-3 on the road this season. 
• In conference games only, SMU ranks among league leaders in scoring (1st at 74.1), field goal percentage (1st at .467), 3-point field goal percentage (1st at .352), 3-pointers per game (1st at 9.7), assist-to-turnover ratio (1st at 1.3), assists (T1st at 17.1) and rebounding defense (2nd at 31.1) through Saturday.  
• SMU also ranks nationally in assists (10th at 16.9), free throw percentage (17th at .770) and rebound margin (23rd at 7.3) this season.
• Four players average double figures in scoring: sophomore guard Kendric Davis (16.2 points, 4.4 rebounds, 7.2 assists), junior forward Isiah Mike (14.7 points, 7.1 rebounds, 2.3 3-pointers per game), junior guard Tyson Jolly (14.5 points, 6.9 rebounds) and sophomore forward Feron Hunt (12.5 points, 7.3 rebounds). 
• Davis ranks nationally in assists (7th at 7.4), assist-to-turnover ratio (16th at 2.8) and free throw percentage (29th at .879). He has handed out five or more assists in 14 consecutive games.

// SERIES HISTORY

• Cincinnati owns a 13-5 lead in its series with SMU. 
• UC leads 8-0 at home. The series is tied 3-3 at SMU and 2-2 at neutral sites. 
• The Bearcats have won the last six meetings in the series including all three matchups last season: 73-68 on 
• Feb. 2 in Cincinnati; 52-49 on Feb. 27 in Dallas and 82-74 on Mar. 15 in the quarterfinals of the AAC Championship in Memphis, Tenn.  
• The home team has won nine of the last 12 meetings with the exceptions being a trio of UC wins at Moody Coliseum (52-49 on Feb. 27, 2019; 76-51 on Feb. 12, 2018 and 62-54 on Feb. 2, 2015).
• SMU's last win in the series was a 71-56 result in the 2017 AAC Tournament championship game on March 12, 2017 at the XL Center in Hartford, Conn. 

// TIP-INS

• HOME SWEET HOME: The Bearcats are 57-4 (.934) at home since the start of 2016-17, including a 28-2 (.933) mark against AAC teams.
• HOME SWEET HOME II: In three AAC home games this season, the Bearcats are outscoring the opposition by 24.0 points (74.7 to 50.7), holding foes to 32.4 percent (57 of 176) shooting from the floor and 16.9 percent (10 of 59) shooting from 3-point range and outrebounding foes by 11.7 rebounds (44.0 to 32.3).  AAC opponents are also averaging 16.7 turnovers at Fifth Third Arena. 
• OFFENSIVE EFFORT IN PHILLY: UC's 89-82 win at Temple on Wednesday marked the first time the Bearcats won a road game in regulation while allowing 80 or more points since a 92-83 victory at Vanderbilt on Dec. 10, 2005 (17 such occurrences). The Owls entered last week ranked 22nd nationally in field goal percentage defense. However, the Bearcats managed to shoot 52.0 percent (26 of 50) from the floor. 
• COUSIN COMBO: The cousin duo of Jarron and Jaevin Cumberland have combined to tally more than 30 points on three occasions this season for the Bearcats: 38 vs Tulsa (1/8): Jarron (22), Jaevin (16);  37 at Temple (1/22): Jarron (22), Jaevin (15); 32 vs. Bowling Green (11/24): Jaevin (21), Jarron (11).