Junior guard Troy Caupain scored a career-best 27 points and Cincinnati held off a comeback by East Carolina en route to securing a 65-56 victory over the Pirates on Saturday in American Athletic Conference play at Greenville, N.C.

Caupain was 9 of 14 from the field and made four 3-pointers in surpassing his 25-point effort against Memphis earlier this month. Freshman guard Jacob Evans also made four 3-pointers while scoring 18 points for the Bearcats (21-8, 11-5 AAC), who won for the eighth time in 10 games.

Senior forward Octavius Ellis added 10 points and 14 rebounds for the Bearcats. Cincinnati played without two starting players -- senior guard Farad Cobb (knee) and senior forward Shaq Thomas (groin).

Senior guard Prince Williams scored 18 points to lead East Carolina (11-18, 3-13), which lost for the seventh time in eight games. Freshman forward Kentrell Barkley contributed 14 points, 13 rebounds and six assists.

The Bearcats held a 12-point halftime lead and increased it to 45-29 on Caupain's 3-pointer with 17:40 to play. The Pirates didn't fold and got back in the game by making six 3-pointers -- three by Barkley -- in a span of 4:14 to pull within 56-52 with 9:21 to play.

East Carolina eventually moved within two points as Cincinnati went 4 1/2 minutes without scoring until Caupain drove for a layup with five minutes to play. Evans followed with a 3-pointer to make it 61-54 and the Bearcats closed it out.

East Carolina held a 17-15 lead just past the midway point of the first half before the Bearcats rolled off the next 11 points. Junior guard Kevin Johnson scored on a layup to give Cincinnati a 13-point lead with 1:45 left in the half and the Bearcats held a 37-25 lead at the break.