Dependable senior guard Jahmal McMurray leads the way as SMU seeks back-to-back road victories and a 3-0 start in the American Athletic Conference when it visits hungry Connecticut on Thursday night. McMurray has scored at least 14 points in 10 straight contests and is averaging 22.5, including 9-of-20 from 3-point range, in the first two conference games as the Mustangs opened 2-0 for the fourth straight season in the American.

Cincinnati visits Tulsa on Thursday night looking to bounce back from an upset loss at East Carolina last weekend, but winning at the Reynolds Center and avoiding its first losing streak of the season certainly won't be an easy task. The Golden Hurricane have won 15 straight and 24 of their last 26 in their home arena.

Fourth-ranked Michigan puts its perfect record on the line when it visits Illinois on Thursday in Big Ten action. The Wolverines are one of three remaining unbeaten teams nationally following an impressive 74-63 win against No. 24 Indiana on Sunday and hope to improve to 16-0 for the third time in program history by extending their conference winning streak to 14 in a row, including Big Ten Tournament games. 

The excitement in Lincoln generated from success during the non-conference slate has been dulled a bit with two consecutive losses and a 1-3 start in the Big Ten. Nebraska will try to get back on track and match a school record when struggling Penn State visits Thursday.

The challenge facing coach Joe Dooley in his second stint at East Carolina was to elevate a program that hasn't enjoyed a winning season since 2012-13 and has only two such campaigns in the last 21 years. Saturday's 73-71 upset of Cincinnati will go a long way toward that process as the Pirates visit Memphis on Thursday in an American Athletic Conference game.

Washington State and Colorado are two of the coldest teams in the Pac-12 with the Cougars having lost a conference-most four straight games and the Buffaloes having dropped four of their last five. They’ll see who can right the ship when Colorado hosts Washington State on Thursday night.

Oregon and UCLA were picked to finish first and second in the Pac-12 Conference's preseason media poll back in October. But both teams, who meet for the first time Thursday night in Eugene, have already had to face their share of adversity heading into the second week of conference play.

With the Pac-12 without a ranked team or clear favorite, Washington and Utah certainly rank among the leading conference contenders. And that prospect adds a little extra incentive to Thursday night’s meeting between the Huskies and Runnin’ Utes in Salt Lake City.

Sixth-ranked Gonzaga looks to stretch its streak of blowout victories to six when it hosts Pacific on Thursday in West Coast Conference play. The Bulldogs pounded Santa Clara 91-48 in their WCC opener and have won their past five games by an average of 43.6 points.

After a home sweep of Cal and Stanford, USC brings a season-best four-game winning streak into Thursday night's Pac-12 contest at Oregon State. And the Trojans, who haven't started conference play 3-0 since the 2002 season, could get a big boost on the injury front for their trip to Oregon.