HOUSTON -- Damyean Dotson and Rob Gray Jr. had 13 points each on Thursday night and Houston pulled away after a slow start, closing its regular season with a 69-56 win over Cincinnati.
Devonta Pollard added 11 points for the Cougars (22-8, 12-6 American Athletic Conference), who used a 13-0 run to move in front for good midway through the first half.
UC (21-9, 11-6) hosts No. 24 SMU to finish its regular season on Sunday with a chance to tie Houston for third place in the standings.
Houston had its largest lead of 16 early in the second and matched it at 50-34 with 11:18 left. The Bearcats got no closer than 62-55 before the Cougars closed it out with a 7-1 run.
Troy Caupain had 19 points, Jacob Evans scored 14 and Octavius Ellis 11 for Cincinnati. Gary Clark had 13 rebounds to go with his six points.
