Cincinnati 74, DePaul 66

Dion Dixon and Sean Kilpatrick each scored 16 points and Cashmere Wright scored all 11 of his in the second half to help Cincinnati pull away from DePaul for a 74-66 Big East win on Saturday night. Justin Jackson set a career high with 14 points for the Bearcats (16-7, 6-4), who ended the game with a 12-2 run and snapped a three-game losing streak. Yancy Gates also finished in double figures with 11 for Cincinnati. Cleveland Melvin scored 18 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to lead the Blue Demons (11-11, 2-8), who have lost seven of their last eight games. Melvin had his third double-double of the year and second in consecutive games by halftime with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Jamee Crockett added 17 for DePaul before fouling out with 5:39 left in the game. The Blue Demons, who won at Rutgers on Jan. 25, were trying to win back-to-back Big East road games for the first time since January 2007. Mistake-prone DePaul committed 18 turnovers, helping Cincinnati enjoy a 22-10 advantage in points off turnovers. Crockett, who scored a total of seven points in DePaul's last game, scored eight in the first 4 minutes to help the Blue Demons open up a 9-6 lead. Melvin followed up with 12 in just over 4 minutes as the Blue Demons led by as many as five points twice in the first half. The Bearcats, the Big East leaders in 3-point field goals going into the game, missed their first eight before Kilpatrick connected with 7 seconds left in the first half to cut DePaul's halftime lead to 38-36. They went 3 of 15 on 3-pointers for the game. The Blue Demons, who were second in the conference in 3-pointers, made just 2 of 10 in the first half and finished 5 of 17 for the game.