How to Watch: No. 20 Cincinnati Bearcats vs. Temple Owls

• Tipoff: 7 p.m. ET
• Television: CBS Sports Network
• Announcing crew: Dave Ryan (play-by-play), Steve Wolf (analyst) and Allie LaForce (sideline reporter)
• Radio: 700 WLW
• Announcing crew: Dan Hoard (play-by-play) and Chuck Machock (analyst)
• Series history: Temple has been a bit of a pain for UC recently, having won three-straight against the Bearcats leading into this season. Mick Cronin and company were put to the test once again when they opened up league play against the Owls on Dec. 28, but they were able to pull out a 56-50 victory. Historically, UC has dominated this matchup (18-9) and that includes a 7-2 record at home.

For the second time this season, the Cincinnati Bearcats will try their hand at defeating the Temple Owls when the two squads interact on the hardwood at Fifth Third Arena Wednesday night.

Back on Dec. 28, Jacob Evans and Gary Clark each scraped together 11 points during a game where offense was at a premium. The Bearcats’ victory kick-started their 5-0 open to American Athletic Conference play, which has pushed them to 15-2 overall and to the No. 20 spot in both the AP and Coaches poll. While that first meeting ended in favor of UC, there was a lot of negative to be taken away from it. Kyle Washington remained marred in a cold streak, scoring six points on 1-of-6 shooting, while the Bearcats knocked down only 32.8 percent of their shots from the field. Washington has turned things around in the last three games, averaging 15.3 points, 8.3 rebounds and 2.7 blocks per contest during that time. The offense hasn’t followed suit entirely, with the Bearcats averaging a pedestrian 67.2 points per game on 41.4 percent shooting against league foes.

Temple (10-9, 1-5 AAC) has been circling the drain from the end of December into January, losing five of the last six games. The Owls had their hearts crushed at home last time out, as Tulsa’s Sterling Taplin made a shot in the final seconds to push the Golden Hurricane to a 70-68 victory. Temple is scoring only 62.7 points per game on 38.4 percent shooting in conference action. That’s no bueno for the Owls, especially as they enter the Thunderdome aka play against the Bearcats, who are No. 3 in the country in adjusted defensive efficiency (87.9).

For more on tonight’s matchup, check out our full game preview.