The Bearcats' leading scorer on the season, Jacob Evans, finished with 14 points, Cane Broome had nine and Trevor Moore added eight to aid Clark's efforts as Cincinnati (19-2, 8-0 AAC) continued its perfect conference start.
Jeremiah Martin, the AAC's third-leading scorer, put up a game-high 20 points and Kareem Brewton Jr. added 10 for Memphis (13-8, 4-4). The Tigers have lost two straight after a season-high-tying, four-game winning streak.
Memphis' Kyvon Davenport nearly had a double-double with eight points and 10 boards as the Tigers failed to avenge an 82-48 rout at Cincinnati on Dec. 31, their only other game against a team ranked in the AP Top 25 this season.
Memphis dropped to 12-2 at home this season.
Jarron Cumberland started for Cincinnati after leaving the Bearcats' 75-42 win over Temple on Wednesday with an ankle injury. He totaled seven points and five rebounds against the Tigers.
After trailing by 13 points at halftime, Memphis cut the deficit to 36-32 with 11:57 remaining on a 3-pointer from Jimario Rivers.
Cincinnati wasted little time in restoring a double-digit lead as a jumper by Clark at the 7:24 mark put the Bearcats up 51-34. The Tigers failed to trim their deficit under eight in the final seven-plus minutes.
The Bearcats led 34-21 at the break.
Davenport's layup at 10:58 of the opening period brought the Tigers within four at 15-11, but the Bearcats responded with an 18-3 surge to take their biggest lead of the game at 19 points. Clark's 3-pointer at 4:16 capped the run to put Cincinnati ahead 33-14.
Cincinnati returns home to face Houston on Wednesday, the same day Memphis visits South Florida.
--Field Level Media
Cincinnati | Memphis | |
Gary Clark 18 | Scoring | Jeremiah Martin 20 |
Cane Broome 6 | Assists | Kareem Brewton Jr. 1 |
Kyle Washington 10 | Rebounds | Kyvon Davenport 10 |
Gary Clark 7 | Free Throws Made | Jeremiah Martin 9 |
Gary Clark 1 | Steals | Kareem Brewton Jr. 3 |
Kyle Washington 2 | Blocks | Kyvon Davenport 2 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Cincinnati | 62 | 43.1 | 8-18 | 10-19 | 15 | 31 | 4 | 4 | 15 |
Memphis | 48 | 31.1 | 3-17 | 17-29 | 4 | 26 | 4 | 5 | 12 |