PHILADELPHIA -- Cincinnati doesn't mind playing ugly. Not in the slightest.

Grind-it-out possessions and tough defensive stands are the Bearcats' hallmark under coach Mick Cronin, and they rode those qualities to appearances in each of the past six NCAA Tournaments.

So it was no surprise that in a rough-and-tumble American Athletic Conference opener against Temple, No. 23 Cincinnati was able to overcome a scrappy group of Owls for a 56-50 win on Wednesday.

Sophomore Jacob Evans III and junior Gary Clark had 11 points each to lead a Cincinnati squad that had nine different contributors to the scoring column despite the low point total.

Cincinnati hit only 19 of 58 from the floor (32.8 percent) and 5 of 18 (27.8 percent) of its 3-point attempts.

"I think you've got to learn to win tough games," Cronin said. "Our saying is, you've got to win games when you miss shots. Teams that win leagues, that compete for championships, you've got to win when you miss shots. You can't only win when you make perimeter shots, because you're only going to make them half the time, really.

"So you've got to be able to win ugly. You've got to be able to win when the ball's not going in."

The Bearcats (11-2, 1-0 AAC) didn't make it easy for themselves, committing a shot-clock violation and missing two foul shots on consecutive possessions in the final minute of play.

However, the Owls couldn't come up with the necessary plays to upset the preseason league favorites.

It looked as if Cincinnati beat the shot-clock buzzer on a Troy Caupain runner with under a minute to play in a two-point game, but a review showed the senior hadn't gotten his shot off in time.

Following a blocked Daniel Dingle 3-point attempt, Clark found himself at the line -- only to miss two shots with 30 seconds left.

So Temple (9-5, 0-1 AAC) got one more chance, but Dingle's errant pass was intercepted by Clark, who made up for his earlier misses with a pair of makes.

"Earlier this week, one of the coaches told me to clear my mind and think about my mechanics and stuff like that," Clark said. "Go to a positive place, like unicorns or something."

After Temple's Obi Enechionyia was off on a 3-pointer, Cincinnati's Kevin Johnson hit two more foul shots for the final margin.

Aside from a 9-0 Cincinnati start to the game -- Temple opened with four straight turnovers and only made one of its first 10 shots -- the teams played within a few points of one another the majority of the way.

Trailing by two with under 12 minutes to play, Cincinnati went on a game-changing 10-0 run, forcing several long, contested Temple 3-point attempts while getting dunks from Evans and Tre Scott to open up a 47-39 advantage with 7:29 remaining.

Cincinnati's Jarron Cumberland had a clutch 3-pointer at the four-minute mark, knocking down a contested shot from the left with the shot clock in its final second to keep his team up by seven.

"That one late shot-clock three by Cumberland was a killer," Temple coach Fran Dunphy said.

Temple was looking for its third Top 25 win of the season, having already toppled then-No. 25 Florida State and then-No. 19 West Virginia on a neutral court in Brooklyn in November.

But the Owls, playing without senior point guard Josh Brown (Achilles soreness), had serious issues with the Bearcats' physical half-court defense. Temple shot a season-worst 26.7 percent (16 of 60) from the floor, and was just 5 of 26 (19.2 percent) from 3-point range.

"They usually play some type of matchup zone; today was strictly man-to-man," Dingle said. "They switched everything, did a good job of hedging and rolling."

Cronin said, "This is as well as we've played defensively, all season, hands down. Against a quality opponent, especially on the road."

Enechionyia, the Owls' leading scorer entering conference play (16.2 points per game), was held to seven points on 3-of-10 shooting, missing all five of his 3-point attempts.

Dingle led three Temple players in double figures with 15 points.

NOTES: Temple won both matchups between the programs last year, but Cincinnati now holds a 4-3 series lead since they became conference opponents three years ago. Previously, Cincinnati held a 17-9 series advantage. ... Bearcats junior F Gary Clark was selected American Athletic Player of the Week on Monday after scoring a career-high 26 points and grabbing 10 rebounds in a win over Marshall. ... Temple was picked sixth in the American Athletic Conference preseason poll each of the last three seasons but finished tied for third two years ago and won the regular-season title last year.