Houston's Damyean Dotson and Rob Gray Jr. paced a balanced attack, and the host Cougars damaged short-handed Cincinnati's NCAA Tournament hopes with a 69-56 win Thursday.

Dotson scored 13 points and grabbed seven rebounds, and Gray finished with 13 points for Houston (22-8, 12-6 American).

Cincinnati was missing two starters, forward Shaq Thomas and guard Farad Cobb, due to injuries.

Troy Caupain led the Bearcats (21-9, 11-6) with 19 points, while freshman Jacob Evans scored 14.

Cincinnati, which was considered to be squarely on the bubble for an NCAA Tournament at-large bid, finishes the regular season against No. 24 SMU on Sunday.

The Bearcats hit their first three 3-point attempts and jumped out to a 9-2 lead, thren quickly cooled off. Houston responded with a 20-3 run to take command and went into halftime with a 33-20 lead. Cincinnati shot 28 percent from the floor in the first half.

Houston pushed its lead to 16 early in second half and answered a late challenge by Cincinnati. The Bearcats closed within seven on a pair of free throws by Gary Clark. However, Houston's Galen Robinson Jr. converted a three-point play, helping the Cougars put away the Bearcats.

Devonta Pollard added 11 points for the Cougars, who have won three in a row and six of seven overall.