Men's Basketball Returns Home to Face Temple

TEMPLE (4-7, 3-7 AAC)
at  CINCINNATI (5-7, 3-4 AAC)
Friday, Feb. 13 // 7 p.m. ET
Fifth Third Arena // Cincinnati, Ohio
SERIES INFO: 35th Meeting; Cincinnati leads 25-9 overall; Cincinnati leads 10-2 at home; 
Cincinnati leads 9-4 in Philadelphia and 6-3 at neutral sites. 
LAST MEETING: Cincinnati won 63-60 on Feb. 4, 2021 in Philadelphia
STREAK: Cincinnati - 7
COACHES: John Brannen - second season at Cincinnati (25-17); sixth season overall (107-69)
Aaron McKie - second season at Temple (18-24); second season overall (18-24)
AP/USA TODAY RANKINGS (FEB. 8): Cincinnati (--/--); Temple (--/--)
RADIO: 700 WLW; Dan Hoard provides play-by-play with color analyst Terry Nelson
TV: ESPN+; Matt Noonan provides play-by-play with color analyst Kevin Johnson
JOIN THE CONVERSATION (TWITTER, FACEBOOK & INSTAGRAM): @GoBearcatsMBB

CINCINNATI HEADLINES

• Cincinnati plays its first home game in 41 days Friday when it welcomes Temple to Fifth Third Arena. The Bearcats were schedule to play at Memphis on Thursday and Temple was to play at East Carolina on Thursday and Saturday but COVID-19 protocols prevented those three games from happening. 
• UC returned from a 25-day layoff due to COVID-19 protocols last Thursday, Feb. 4 when it defeated Temple 63-60 in Philadelphia. 
• David DeJulius was named to the AAC Weekly Honor Roll on Monday after averaging 19.0 points, 5.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists in a pair of wins last week. He scored 26 points on 10-of-18 shooting with four 3-pointers and three steals at Temple (2/4). 
• Keith Williams became the 54th member of UC's 1,000-point club on Sunday at Tulane with a game-high 20 points against the Green Wave.  He ranks among AAC leaders in scoring average (6th at 15.4), steals (T9th at 1.3) and blocked shots (T11th at 0.8).
• John Brannen is one of six active coaches in the nation to have won a conference regular-season championship in each of the past three seasons (Northern Kentucky [2018, 2019], Cincinnati [2020]).
• In November, CBS Sports named Cincinnati the 10th greatest college basketball program since the advent of the NCAA Tournament in 1939. 

GAME PREVIEW 

• Cincinnati (5-7, 3-4 American) plays its first home game since Jan. 2 on Friday when it welcomes Temple to Fifth Third Arena. Tipoff is 7 p.m. ET on ESPN+.
• With a limited roster, the Bearcats posted a pair of wins last week in their first action following a 25-day layoff due to COVID-19 protocols. UC registered wins at Temple (63-60) and at Tulane (64-61). David DeJulius scored a career-high 26 points with four threes against the Owls while Keith Williams tallied 20 points at Tulane.
• The Bearcats were supposed to play at Memphis on Thursday but the game was postponed due to COVID-19 protocols with the Tigers. 
• Temple dropped a 70-67 decision at Wichita State on Sunday. Damian Dunn scored a game-high 22 points, including 12-of-12 shooting from the foul line. 
• UC owns a 25-9 lead overall in the series with Temple. 
• UP NEXT: UC plays host to UCF on Sunday. Tipoff is 1 p.m. ET on ESPN+.  

BEARCATS TIP-INS

• COVID-19 SCHEDULE CHANGES: UC played its first game in 25 days when it visited Temple (2/4) last week. The Bearcats had six games postponed and one other contest rescheduled following their 82-76 loss at Wichita State (1/10). 
• The Bearcats started a make-shift lineup against the Owls that featured the first career starts for freshman guard Mike Saunders Jr. and sophomore walk-on Rob Banks. UC didn't have its full roster of players available for either game last week. 
• UC entered the month of February having played only 10 games for the first time since 1944-45. 
• The Bearcats haven't played a home game since a 70-66 loss to Tulsa (1/2) - a span of 41 days. 
• DEJULIUS NAMED TO AAC WEEKLY HONOR ROLL: Junior transfer David DeJulius was named to the AAC Weekly Honor Roll on Monday after averaging 19.0 points, 5.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists in a pair of wins last week. 
• He poured in a career-high 26 points on 10-of-18 shooting with four 3-pointers and three steals at Temple (2/4) and contributed 12 points, seven rebounds and four assists at Tulane (2/7). 
• He also was named to the AAC Weekly Honor Roll on Dec. 14 after posting 11 points and seven assists at then-No. 12 Tennessee.
• DeJulius enters the week ranked among AAC leaders in assists (2nd at 5.0) and assist-to-turnover ratio (4th at 2.4-to-1) for the season. 
• He nearly recorded a double-double at SMU (1/7), grabbing a career-high nine rebounds and handing out a career-high 12 assists with three turnovers. 
• The 12 assists were the most by a Bearcat since Steve Logan dished out a school-record 16 assists vs. Coppin State during the 2001-02 campaign. DeJulius becomes only the sixth Bearcat in school history to record 12 or more assists in a game. 
• WILLIAMS JOINS 1,000-POINT CLUB: Preseason AAC First Team honoree Keith Williams became the 54th member of UC's 1,000-point club on Sunday at Tulane with a game-high 20 points against the Green Wave.  
• He enters Wednesday sixth in the league in scoring, averaging 15.4 points this season. He also ranks among league leaders in steals (T9th at 1.3) and blocked shots (T11th at 0.8).
• Williams has scored in double figures in 10 of 12 games this season, including each of the last eight. 
• Williams was named to the AAC Weekly Honor Roll following his performance against UCF (12/22). He posted his first career double-double with a team-high 19 points and game-best 10 rebounds against the Knights.
• Williams has led the Bearcats in scoring in six of 12 games this season. He scored a game-high 27 points on 10-of-17 shooting with five rebounds against Furman (12/9) and accounted for a team-high 18 points with six rebounds against city-rival Xavier (12/6). 
• DAVENPORT TRENDING: Sophomore guard Jeremiah Davenport ranks second on the team in scoring over UC's past nine games, averaging 11.3 points and 5.6 rebounds while shooting 44.6 percent (37 of 83) from the field with a team-best 15 3-pointers. He has scored in double figures in five of the nine contests. 
• In his first career start against SMU (1/7), he posted his first career double-double, matching a career-high with 18 points and grabbing a career-best 10 rebounds while hitting a trio of 3-pointers.

SCOUTING TEMPLE

• Temple had won three of its last four league games before suffering a pair of losses last week. 
• Damian Dunn (14.1 points, 4.4 rebounds), Khalif Battle (11.8 points, 5.8 rebounds) and Jake Forrester (10.0 points and 6.7 rebounds) all average double figures in scoring for the Owls.