The Bearcats earned a No. 7 seed in the NCAA Tournament and will open against No. 10 Iowa on Friday at Nationwide Arena in Columbus.
Armoni Brooks led Houston (31-3) with 17 points and Corey Davis added 12 for the Cougars, who were the tournament’s top seed.
In the second half, Cincinnati put the ball in the hands of Cumberland, voted the tournament’s most valuable player, and he responded with 20 second-half points. That was coupled with a Cincinnati defense that held the Cougars to 27.8 percent shooting after halftime, including Houston converting only 3 of 18 shots from outside the arc.
Houston got in trouble early in the second half when two quick fouls sent forward Breaon Brady to the bench with four fouls. About the same time, Fabian White went to the bench holding his right wrist.
At that point, the Bearcats were taking the lead to 15 points and really weren’t threatened the rest of the way.