Cincinnati Basketball: Game preview, odds, pregame quotes prior to UCF matchup

With the Bearcats set to face UCF in just a couple hours, check out our game preview including odds, pregames quotes, players to watch and more prior to tip off!

Both teams are competing for a first round bye in the AAC Tournament next month and a win this weekend would be a step closer to securing that goal.

Despite losing three of the last four games against Central Florida, Cincinnati can extend the all-time series lead in the matchup on Saturday afternoon.

In the most recent meeting, Jeremiah Davenport and David DeJulius combined for 31 points and 15 boards but Cincinnati lost 75-61 in Orlando last season.

Cincinnati Basketball: Players to watch in the Bearcats upcoming matchup against UCF

There are several talented players to keep an eye on this weekend including Bearcats senior Landers Nolley II and Central Florida star freshman Taylor Hendricks!

In addition to Nolley, the Bearcats will need DeJulius and Viktor Lakhin to play at a high level in order to outlast UCF on Saturday afternoon.

Wes Miller will also need the bench to continue to make a positive impact with Davenport and Daniel Skillings coming off good performances against Tulsa.

Other players to watch include senior guards CJ Kelley and Ithiel Horton, plus senior big man Michael Durr. Kelley is scoring 12.4 points and 2.8 assists per game.

Cincinnati Basketball: Game preview, odds, pregame quotes prior to UCF matchup

• Date: Saturday, February 4 at 12:00 PM
• Location: Fifth Third Arena in Cincinnati
• TV Broadcast: ESPNU and fuboTV
• Series History: Bearcats lead 12-5

Heading into the critical conference matchup, the Bearcats are 5-point favorites according to WynnBET, with the over/under currently placed at 138.5 total points.

During a recent press conference, Miller discussed how the team has improved defensively and rebounding since conference play started via Cincinnati Athletics.

"“Every good team has to value defending and rebounding. You don’t just take a step forward every day but you feel like over two weeks you took a step forward. It might be a couple steps forward and a couple steps back but we feel like this team keeps getting better. To this point, we have trended the right way in the rebounding category over the last six weeks. It needs to continue if we’re going to keep improving as a group. We need depth in the frontcourt and Kalu Ezikpe has really improved, and we’re starting to get to the point where we can rely on him.”"