Senior Ryan Boatright knows what’s at stake in the final 12 regular season games, starting with tonight’s action at Cincinnati at Fifth Third Arena.

  “I tell you all the time when I do media, every game from now on is very important for us if we want to get to where we want to be at the end of the year,” said Boatright when UConn arrived here Wednesday night. “A good team like this with a good RPI, and on the road, it would be a huge win for us."

 Here’s a pre-game preview:

 -- Tip-off: 8 p.m. (ESPN2)

 -- Records: UConn 11-7, 4-2; Cincinnati 14-5, 5-2

 -- Last game: UConn beat South Florida, 66-53, Sunday; Cincinnati won at Central Florida, 56-46, Sunday

 -- Probable starters:

  UConn -- 6-0 sr. guard Ryan Boatright (16.5 pts, 4.2 rebs, 4.6 assists), 6-5 jr. guard Omar Calhoun (7.3 pts), 6-7 fr. forward Daniel Hamilton (10.1 pts, 6.3 rebs), 6-9 so. forward Kentan Facey (5.8 pts, 6.4 rebs), 7-0 so. center Amida Brimah (10.4 pts, 5.0 rebs, 2.7 blks)

  Cincinnati -- 6-4 so. guard Troy Caupain (9.9 pts, 3.6 assists), 6-3 so. guard Kevin Johnson (6.5 pts), 6-5 jr. forward Jermaine Sanders (5.2 pts), 6-7 fr. forward Gary Clark (7.8pts, 7.3 rebs), 6-10 jr. forward Octavius Ellis (9.5 pts, 6.9 rebs, 2.4 blks)

 Noteworthy:

 -- Tonight’s game kicks off a two-game road trip. UConn plays at Houston on Sunday.

 -- The Bearcats are 29-2 at home since the start of last season. The Huskies are 2-2 on the road.

 -- The Huskies won first meeting, 62-56, on Jan. 10 in Hartford. Boatright had 18 points and Bearcats shot 39.6 percent. UConn leads the series, 11-5.

  “They’re going to really come out with some vengeance and try to knock us out early, so we’ve got to be ready for that,” Boatright said.

 -- The last seven meeting have been decided by seven points or less.

 -- Coach Kevin Ollie doesn’t want his team to fall in love with shooting 3-pointers, even though the Huskies are shooting better from 3-point range (50 percent) than inside the arc (41.6) in the last three games.

  “We want to get inside the paint,” Ollie said. “We want to come to jump-stops in the middle of the lane and then kick out for open threes. Their zone match-up is always problematic, keeping you out of the lane and then switching. It’s just different, you don’t see zone like that.”

 -- Cincinnati ranks first in steals (7.2) and second in blocks (5.7) in AAC games, but last in scoring offense (60.2).

 -- Playing sound transition defense is a key, according to Boatright.

  “They can’t really score in the half-court,” Boatright said. “They like to score in transition. As long as we get back in transition and make them play against our half-court defense, we should be in pretty good shape.”

 -- Magic number: UConn is 10-1 when it scores at least 60 points.

 -- Clark and Hamilton are AAC rookie of year candidates.

 -- Hot: Boatright 9-for-14 from three in last two games. Cold: Cincinnati is holding opponents to league-low 54.5 points.

 -- UConn is without reserve guard Sam Cassell Jr., who’s out for a couple of weeks with a stress fracture.

 -- The Bearcats are 7-3 since associate head coach Larry Davis took over for Mick Cronin (medical leave).

 -- Boatright on what it will take to win tonight: “We’ve gotten tighten up everything. We’ve got to execute. We’ve got to rebound the basketball. You’ve got to be prepared for the physical battle, because it’s going to be physical.

  “You’ve be ready to not get any calls. You can’t look for calls because you’re on the road. It’s just one of those games that we’re going to have to lock in and come together.”

 -- The Huskies hit 73.7 percent from foul line in wins and 56 percent in losses.

 -- Check back later for a post-game breakdown.

 -- For updates, follow me on Twitter @GavinKeefe