Every team hopes to finish strong. And the way Cincinnati finished Thursday carried it into the quarterfinals of the American Athletic Conference Tournament.

The Bearcats ended their 74-63 win over East Carolina on 12-0 run over the final 3:44 to get the win. The win also snapped Cincinnati's five-game losing streak.

"It's been a tough stretch here over the last month," coach Wes Miller said. "And we've been in a number of really close games. And haven't been able to close them out down the stretch. We've also spent the year in practice working at it and talking about it, about having an identity being built around our defense, being able to get stops when it matters. And it was great to see that come together tonight down the stretch."

The Bearcats will play top-seed Houston at 1 pm ET tomorrow in the AAC Tournament quarterfinals.