Cincinnati Bearcats vs Houston Cougars Preview.

Feb 2, 2014; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Cincinnati Bearcats guard Sean Kilpatrick (23) reacts in the second half against the South Florida Bulls at FifthThird Arena. Cincinnati defeated South Florida 50-45. Mandatory Credit: Frank Victores-USA TODAY Sports

The 10th ranked Cincinnati Bearcats Men’s Basketball team have gotten plenty of time to rest up for the final stretch of the regular season.

The team will look to bounce back from the defeat to No.23 SMU last Saturday as they host the Houston Cougars this afternoon at Fifth Third Arena.

The Bearcats have won 18 straight games at home and will look to add to its American Athletic Conference lead.

Cincinnati got outplayed in all aspects last Saturday in Dallas as we said losing to the upstart Southern Methodist 76-55. The stingy Bearcats defense had its worst performance of the season, allowed SMU to shoot 54.3 percent from the field.

The Bearcats have a good chance to get back on the winning side today, mainly because they’re playing at home, owning a 16-0 mark this season at Fifth Third.

The Cougars have lost four in a row on the road. Bearcats must stop they’re leading scorer in Junior Forward TaShawn Thomas. He is averaging 16.2 points and 8.8 rebounds this season.

In the first meeting down in Houston, Bearcats did a good job containing Thomas holding him to only 10 points, but did grab 9 rebounds, so I’m guessing rebounding will be a big focus today. The Cats won the game 61-60, after nearly blowing a 19 point second half lead. Against a lesser opponent, they must find away to put them down and not let then hang around in the game, for some reason this team has done that this season, probably because they play down to those teams.

Tip-off is at 3pm on ESPNU or hear it on the radio with Dan and Chuck on 700 WLW.