Cincinnati 67, Houston 54: Troy Caupain scored 13 points, dished out six assists and had three steals to lead the host Bearcats to the American Athletic Conference victory.

Octavius Ellis finished with 11 points and five rebounds, Shaq Thomas scored 10 points and Gary Clark added eight points and five rebounds for Cincinnati (13-5, 4-2), which shot 51.2 percent from the floor, including 61.9 percent in the second half. The Bearcats improved to 25-1 all-time against the Cougars, including 13-0 at home.

Danrad Knowles scored 15 points, including 3-of-4 3-pointers, and L.J. Rose added 11 points for Houston (7-11, 0-7), which lost its seventh straight game. The Cougars finished with 19 turnovers that led to a 31-15 Cincinnati advantage in points off turnovers.

Cincinnati, behind back-to-back 3-pointers by Farad Cobb and Jermaine Sanders, went on a 10-0 run midway through the first half en route to a 15-10 lead. Knowles, coming off a career-best 31-point performance against Tulane, hit a 3-pointer to put the Cougars ahead 21-19, and Houston ended half on a 5-0 run capped by a tip-in basket by Mikhail McLean just before the buzzer to lead 28-24 at halftime.

Cincinnati opened the second half with a 15-5 run capped by Ellis' three-point play to go back in front 39-33. The Cougars got as close as four points twice after that, the final time on Rose's jumper with about 11 minutes to go before the Bearcats blew the game open with a 20-5 run highlighted by 3-pointers by Caupain and Thomas.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Cincinnati, which entered the contest ranked seventh nationally in scoring defense (55.1), has now held 22 straight opponents to 70 or fewer points. ... Houston G Jherrod Stiggers, who entered the game leading the AAC and ranked fifth nationally in 3-point field goals per game (3.9), finished with three points and was 1-of-7 beyond the arc. ... Cincinnati finished with a 23-10 edge in bench points.