Just two weeks after arguably their best American Athletic Conference game vs. USF, the University of Cincinnati Bearcats find themselves in a two-game skid as they return to Fifth Third Arena Wednesday night.

After winning three in a row in the AAC, they lost at home to Memphis, then nearly stunned No. 3 Houston on the Cougars' home floor on Saturday. Those were missed Quadrant 2 and Quadrant 1 wins, respectively that would have put the Bearcats at 16-8. Instead, they are 14-8 and hoping to stay above .500 in the conference.

Tulsa is now coached by Eric Konkol who took the job last March after 153 wins at Louisiana Tech where he never had a losing season. With the Golden Hurricane, he is now 5-15 but they've had some close calls in January. Tulsa lost by just four at Wichita State, by three in overtime at home to SMU and defeated Tulane 81-79 in overtime on Jan. 21. They're coming off a home loss to Memphis on Sunday, 80-68.

Despite the loss, Wes Miller's Bearcats saw their KenPom.com numbers improve after the Houston game. UC led by as many as 13 in the first half and 11 in the second. It was the first game all season where the Cougars trailed at halftime. Though they were up over 31 of the game's 40 minutes, they were unable to finish off what would have been one of the major upsets in the history of the school.

The Bearcats will have Quadrant 1 opportunities coming up against UCF and Memphis as they try to find an angle into postseason play.

UC vs. Tulsa preview

Tip: 7 p.m., Fifth Third Arena (12,012)

TV/Radio: ESPN+/700WLW

Series info: UC leads 30-14

Scouting report

Tulsa (5-15, 1-8 AAC)

Coach: Eric Konkol (5-15, first year)

Offense: 69.3 ppg

Defense: 76.3 ppg

Projected lineup (Position, Height, Stats)

Bryant Selebangue (F, 6'8", 13.1 ppg/9.3 RPG)

Tim Dalger (F, 6'7" 8.5 ppg)

Anthony Pritchard (G, 6'2", 8.8 ppg)

Sam Griffin (G, 6'3", 15.8 ppg)

B.B. Knight (G, 6'6", 1.9 ppg)

Cincinnati 14-8 (5-4 AAC)

Coach: Wes Miller (32-23, second year)

Offense: 76.5 ppg

Defense: 68.0 ppg

Projected lineup (Position, Height, Stats)

Landers Nolley II (G/F, 6'7", 15.9 ppg)

David DeJulius (G, 6', 14.5 ppg)

Viktor Lakhin (F, 6'11", 12.7 ppg)

Mika Adams-Woods (G, 6'3", 9.5 ppg)

Ody Oguama (F, 6'9", 3.6 ppg)

UC vs. Tulsa players to watch

Bryant Selebangue

Selebangue is from Montreal and is a junior college transfer having played at Florida Southwestern and Hutchinson Community College. The 6-foot-8, 227-pounder leads the American Athletic Conference in rebounding with 9.3 per game and has recorded eight double-doubles. His best game came Jan. 18 against SMU when he had 24 points and 14 rebounds, both season-highs.

Ody Oguama

In order to counter Tulsa's Selebangue, Ody Oguama will need to help 6-foot-11 Viktor Lakhin hit the boards. Lakhin is UC's top glass cleaner at 7.4 per game with Oguama at 4.3 behind Nolley at 5.4 Jeremiah Davenport is just behind Oguama at 4.2 so considering the substitution patterns you could argue the pair are combining with Lakhin for about 15 caroms per contest.

Oguama's season-high is 12 against Eastern Kentucky in November. He's been in double figures twice despite often playing just half the game minutes-wise. Each game he's recorded six or more rebounds, the Bearcats have won. In their recent losses to Memphis and Houston, he had just six rebounds overall.

Keys to the UC vs. Tulsa basketball game

Pound the glass

After getting outrebounded by 18 at Temple Jan. 1, UC won the board game five straight times. However, Memphis and Houston both outrebounded UC in the last two losses. The Bearcats are 2-7 when not winning on the glass.

Fire away

The Bearcats made 11 triples Saturday and it was just the second time all season that they lost having made 10 or more 3-pointers (Houston and Arizona). They've won the other seven times they hit double digits. In their opening game last season, the Bearcats went 16-of-29 from the perimeter scoring a season-high 90 points.

Mika needs some makes

Senior Mika Adams-Woods has just two field goals in his last two games including the 40-footer at Houston that gave UC a seven-point halftime lead. That's 2-for-15 in the last two losses. His overall shooting percentage is nearly 44% so the law of averages says No. 3 is about due to find the net again.

Never underestimate an opponent

Tulane (13-7/6-3) has losses to UC and Houston but also was knocked off by Tulsa in overtime when the Golden Hurricane knocked down a dozen treys at home. The allure of a 3-pointer can prove friendly or fateful.

Ratings

NCAA NET: Cincinnati is No. 78, Tulsa No. 286

KenPom.com: Cincinnati is No. 64, Tulsa No. 251

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati basketball: UC Bearcats face Tulsa Golden Hurricane in AAC