CINCINNATI (AP) — Dion Dixon knows time is running out for the Cincinnati Bearcats to make their case for an NCAA tournament bid.

The Cincinnati senior took charge Saturday in the Bearcats' latest effort to stay in the tournament picture, scoring a game-high 20 points for a Cincinnati team that never trailed in a 62-57 Big East win over Seton Hall.

"This is my last go-round," said Dixon, who also had five assists and two blocked shots for the Bearcats, who are trying to overcome a nonconference schedule considered soft by experts and a conference home loss earlier in the season to a St. John's team that is 11-16 overall and 4-10 in the Big East. "I'm trying to give my all at both ends of the floor. It's a situation where these are must-win games. It's the same urgency."

Cincinnati coach Mick Cronin tried to downplay his team's tournament situation.

"My situation is I'm a single dad with no hair and a team trying to get better every day," he joked while sidestepping the question.

Cashmere Wright added 13 points and JaQuon Parker 12 for the Bearcats, who jumped out to a 10-0 lead in the first 4:16 before a near-sellout crowd of 13,003, 173 short of capacity at Fifth Third Arena.

Cincinnati (19-8, 9-5) has won two straight and three out of four going into a conference matchup Thursday with No. 19 Louisville in Cincinnati.

Fuquan Edwin and Jordan Theodore each scored 15 points for the streaky Pirates (18-9, 7-8), who had won three straight after a six-game losing streak. They are scheduled to face 10th-ranked Georgetown at home on Tuesday.

Herb Pope scored six points in the second half to finish with 10 for Seton Hall, which sank just four 3-pointers in 20 tries after making 15 of 24 in a 94-64 win over St. John's on Tuesday. That performance had Cincinnati focusing on its perimeter defense.

"We didn't even want to let them get them off," Dixon said. "We were going at them with our hands up."

The Pirates adjusted by going inside, outscoring Cincinnati 34-16 on points in the paint, including 22-8 in the second half.

"You're going to give up more points inside," Cronin said. "That's cause-and-effect. We told (the Bearcats), 'If you stand around, they win. That's what we did in the second half. We did a lot of good things — enough to win."

Cincinnati led by 14 points, 44-30, with 14:35 left in the second half before Seton Hall cut the lead to four points twice in the last 30 seconds. Dixon made two free throws and Parker added one — all on the front end of bonus situations — to hold off the Pirates.

Cincinnati made six of its first 10 3-pointers to open a 30-15 lead with 5:31 left in the first half against the Big East's second-best 3-point defense. The Bearcats settled for a 37-28 halftime lead behind Dixon's 11 points and 10 from Wright. Seton Hall coach Kevin Willard was impressed with Cincinnati's ability to build on its early 10-0 lead.

"We came out and played soft offensively," Willard said. "We missed a couple of easy shots. That deflated us, and they capitalized. They did a very good job of defending us. We had some open shots. We just didn't make them."

Cincinnati's Yancy Gates, who was suspended for six games for his part in the brawl that ended Cincinnati's 76-53 loss at Xavier on Dec. 10 with 34 seconds left, drew a technical in this one after vehemently ripping the ball away from Theodore. The two were wrestling for a rebound with 4:54 left in the first half.