Cincinnati 77, Memphis 65: Octavius Ellis had 19 points and 11 rebounds to lead the host Bearcats past the Tigers in an American Athletic Conference game.

Ellis was 6-of-7 from the field and registered his third double-double this season for Cincinnati (22-9, 13-5 AAC), which won its fifth straight game and secured the No. 3 seed in the AAC tournament. Farad Cobb added 16 points, Jermaine Sanders had 12 and Gary Clark chipped in with 11 for the Bearcats.

Shaq Goodwin had 22 points and eight rebounds to lead Memphis (18-13, 10-8), which never led and lost for the third time in four contests. Calvin Godfrey contributed a season-high 14 points for the Tigers, who will be the No. 5 seed in the AAC Championship.

Cincinnati jumped out to a 21-4 lead and, powered by Cobb’s 10 points, took a 34-21 advantage into halftime. The Bearcats made five of their 10 3-pointers before intermission.

Memphis never pulled within single digits in the second half, only getting as close as 10 points, and was outrebounded 33-22. Cincinnati was 23-of-29 from the foul line, while Memphis was 9-of-15.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Cincinnati improved to 39-32 in the series against Memphis, including a 21-10 advantage at home. … Memphis fell to 0-7 when trailing at halftime. … Tigers G Trahson Burrell was called for a technical foul for hanging on the rim and Cobb made both free throws to give Cincinnati a 47-33 lead with 13:31 remaining.