Aston Gibbs matched a career high with 25 points and Gilbert Brown added 11 as No. 2 Pittsburgh easily dispatched visiting Cincinnati, 71-59, on Saturday.

Gibbs went 7 of 11 from the floor, including 5 of 5 from beyond the arc and 6 of 6 from the free-throw line, for the Panthers (21-2, 9-1 Big East), who maintained their two-game lead over the rest of the field in the Big East.

Gibbs poured in 18 points in the first half as Pittsburgh surged to a 40-23 lead. The Panthers ended the half with a 16-4 burst over the final 6:01, getting six points from Brad Wanamaker during the spurt.

Back-to-back 3-pointers from Brown and Gibbs to begin the second half pushed it to 46-23 and Pittsburgh still led, 59-37, after Nasir Robinson converted a three-point with 7:09 left. The Bearcats had one last charge, using a 14-2 run over the next four minutes to crawl within 10 points with 3:12 on the clock.

It was a free throw battle after that, and the Panthers converted 8 of 10 over the final 2:20 to hold off Cincinnati.

Larry Davis scored 13 for the Bearcats (18-5, 5-5), whose starters shot a combined 6 of 29 for 22 points.