Cincinnati 63, Houston 53: Shaquille Thomas scored 18 points as the visiting Bearcats pulled away in the final minutes of the American Athletic Conference game.

Kevin Johnson added 12 points off the bench and Gary Clark finished with 11 points and 14 rebounds for Cincinnati (18-9, 9-5), which ended a three-game losing streak, the last two by a combined three points. Farad Cobb contributed five points and five steals for the Bearcats.

Danrad Knowles scored nine of his 16 points in the first half and grabbed nine rebounds to lead Houston (9-17, 1-13), which has lost five in a row. Houston leading scorer Jherrod Stiggers came off the bench for the second straight game following his one-game suspension last week and finished with 13 points, and fellow reserve Devonta Pollard also scored 13 for the Cougars.

The Bearcats trailed by three at the half but scored the first four points coming out of the break to take a 29-28 lead. Cincinnati took the lead for good on a three-point play by Thomas that put the Bearcats on top 32-30 with 18:54 left.

The Cougars pulled within one three times before another three-point play, this one by Coreontae DeBerry, moved Cincinnati ahead by four, and Thomas tacked on a jumper to make it 43-37 with 13:08 left. Cincinnati put away Houston with a 12-0 run that put the Bearcats up 63-49 with 2:38 on the clock.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Stiggers is four points from 1,000 for his career. … The Bearcats beat Houston by 13 points last month. … Cincinnati does not have a player averaging double figures in scoring.