January was a dismal month for Ohio State, but it hopes a win last weekend signals the start of a turnaround that continues Thursday night at home against Penn State and ultimately results in a second straight NCAA Tournament berth. Penn State also will be shooting for its second consecutive win after ending an eight-game January losing streak Monday.

American Athletic Conference co-leader Cincinnati entered the national rankings for the first time this week at No. 23 and the Bearcats look to continue their rise when they face a difficult league test at Memphis on Thursday night. Cincinnati held off a second-half rally from SMU for a 73-68 triumph Saturday to extend its winning streak to seven games, and it must be ready against a Memphis squad that is 11-1 on its home court.

It didn't take long for Central Florida to get rid of the bad taste in its mouth from a 20-point loss to Memphis as the Knights went out and beat Connecticut 73-67 last Thursday for their 11th victory at home. But now the going gets tougher for the Knights as they welcome 12th-ranked Houston to Orlando on Thursday for a battle between two of the top three teams in the American Athletic Conference.

Thanks to an overtime victory over in-state rival Arizona last week, Arizona State finds itself once again back in the conversation as an NCAA Tournament bubble team. The Sun Devils, tied for third in the Pac-12 with USC and Oregon State, play four of their next six games at home starting with Thursday night's contest with Washington State.

Fourth-ranked Gonzaga looks to record its 13th consecutive victory when it hosts San Francisco on Saturday in West Coast Conference play. The Bulldogs have won by an average of 34 points during their 12-game winning streak with the Dons losing by the smallest margin, 96-83 on Jan. 12.

Iowa looks to build off one of its best wins of the season when it visits Indiana on Thursday. The No. 20 Hawkeyes knocked off No. 7 Michigan 74-59 on Monday to add a marquee victory to their NCAA Tournament resume, and hope to continue their climb up the Big Ten standings by beating the Hoosiers on the road for the first time since a 77-63 victory March 3, 2015.

Home really has been the place to be for SMU and the Mustangs return to their homecourt, where they are 9-4, following a two-game skid, both on the road, to face South Florida on Thursday night. The Bulls have won three in a row after defeating Memphis 84-78 on Saturday and they are looking to put together their first four-game winning streak in conference play since the 2011-12 season, when they were members of the Big East.

Washington puts an 11-game winning streak on the line when it visits struggling Arizona on Thursday in a Pac-12 game. The Huskies are outscoring opponents by an average of 12.9 points during their run after Saturday's 69-55 victory over UCLA and are yielding a conference-low 60.9 points per Pac-12 game, but will likely be without senior forward Noah Dickerson (ankle).

These are heady times for Oregon State, which has won three of its last four games to move into a tie for second place in the Pac-12. The Beavers look to carry that momentum into Thursday's matchup against visiting Stanford, which was nearly beaten by last-place California last Sunday before escaping with an 84-81 victory.