Men's Basketball Returns to Play at Temple

CINCINNATI (3-7, 1-4 AAC)
at  TEMPLE (4-5, 3-5 AAC)
Thursday, Feb. 4 // 7 p.m. ET
The Liacouras Center // Philadelphia, Pa.
SERIES INFO: 34th Meeting; Cincinnati leads 24-9 overall; Cincinnati leads 8-4 in Philadelphia;
Cincinnati leads 10-2 at home; Cincinnati leads 6-3 at neutral sites
LAST YEAR'S MEETINGS: Cincinnati won 89-82 on Jan. 22, 2020 in Philadelphia and 64-63 on Mar. 7, 2020 in Cincinnati
STREAK: Cincinnati - 6
COACHES: John Brannen - second season at Cincinnati (23-17); sixth season overall (105-69)
Aaron McKie - second season at Temple (18-22); second season overall (18-22)
AP/USA TODAY RANKINGS (FEB. 1): Cincinnati (--/--); Temple (--/--)
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 Mark Adams
JOIN THE CONVERSATION (TWITTER, FACEBOOK & INSTAGRAM): @GoBearcatsMBB or GoBearcatsMBB

GAME PREVIEW 

• Cincinnati (3-7, 1-4 American) plays its first game in since Jan. 10 when it visits Philadelphia to battle Temple on Thursday, Feb. 4. Tipoff is 7 p.m. ET on ESPN2. 
• In their last game, the Bearcats suffered an 82-76 setback at Wichita State. Kansas native Zach Harvey scored a career-high with 19 points with four 3-pointers. Keith Williams (14) and David DeJulius (12) also reached double figures in scoring. 
• Temple (4-5, 3-5) suffered an 81-64 home loss to Tulane on Sunday. Damian Dunn and Jake Forrester tallied 15 points each to lead the Owls. 
• UC won both meetings last season against Temple and owns a 24-9 lead in the series overall. 
• UP NEXT: UC plays at Tulane on Sunday. Tipoff is noon ET on ESPN+. 

CINCINNATI HEADLINES 

• Cincinnati plays its first game in 25 days when it visits Temple on Thursday. The Bearcats have had five games postponed and one other contest rescheduled since their 82-76 loss at Wichita State (1/10). 
• UC enters the month of February having played only 10 games for the first time since 1944-45. 
• Sophomore guard Zach Harvey was named to the AAC Weekly Honor Roll on Jan. 11 after averaging 16.0 points while shooting 64.7 percent (11 of 17) from the field and 71.4 percent (5 of 7) from 3-point range last week. He entered Monday leading all AAC players shooting 64.3 percent (9 of 14) from 3-point range during league play. 
• Junior guard David DeJulius entered the week ranked among AAC leaders in assists (2nd at 5.3) and assist-to-turnover ratio (3rd at 2.9-to-1) for the season. Nationally, his assist-to-turnover ratio is listed 27th while his assists average ranks 44th. He nearly recorded a double-double at SMU (1/7), grabbing a career-high nine rebounds and handing out a career-high 12 assists. 
• 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. 

TIP-INS

• COVID-19 SCHEDULE CHANGES: UC plays its first game in 25 days when it visits Temple (2/4). The Bearcats have had five games postponed and one other contest rescheduled since their 82-76 loss at Wichita State (1/10). UC enters 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). UC's next home game is scheduled for UCF (2/14) - a span of 42 days. 
• HARVEY HONORED: Sophomore guard Zach Harvey was named to the AAC Weekly Honor Roll on Jan. 11. Harvey put together his most productive week as a Bearcat, posting a career-high 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting with four 3-pointers in a 82-76 loss at Wichita State (1/10). He also tallied 13 points on 4-of-7 shooting from the floor while making 4 of 5 attempts from the free throw line in a 76-69 road win at SMU (1/7). For the week, Harvey led all Bearcats, averaging 16.0 points while shooting 64.7 percent (11 of 17) from the field and 71.4 percent (5 of 7) from 3-point range. 
• Since the start of league play, Harvey leads all AAC players shooting 64.3 percent (9 of 14) from 3-point range while also ranking among the leaders in field goal percentage (2nd at .645), 3-pointers made per game (12th at 1.8) and scoring (18th at 11.6). 
• DAVENPORT TRENDING: Sophomore guard Jeremiah Davenport ranks second on the team in scoring over UC's past seven games, averaging 11.9 points and 5.6 rebounds while shooting 46.9 percent (30 of 64) from the field with a team-best 11 3-pointers. He has scored in double figures in four of the seven 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.
• He posted 18 points at Georgia (12/19) on 6-of-13 shooting. He hit four 3-pointers and posted 14 points at then-No. 12 Tennessee (12/12) and tallied 16 points with seven rebounds and a trio of threes against Tulsa (1/2).   
• Since the start of AAC play, Davenport ranks among the AAC leaders in defensive rebounds (8th at 4.8), rebounds (10th at 6.2) and scoring (T26th at 10.2).
• DEJULIUS THE DISTRIBUTOR: Junior transfer David DeJulius enters the week ranked among AAC leaders in assists (2nd at 5.3) and assist-to-turnover ratio (3rd at 2.9-to-1) for the season. Nationally, his assist-to-turnover ratio is listed 27th while his assists average ranks 44th.
• 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. 

SCOUTING TEMPLE

• Temple had won three of its last four league games before suffering an 81-64 home loss to Tulane on Sunday. 
• 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.