CINCINNATI — No. 23 Pittsburgh has all of its moving parts back in the right places.

Gilbert Brown scored 13 of his 17 points in the second half Monday night, showing the Panthers what they've been missing for most of the season, and Ashton Gibbs made three free throws in the final 7.4 seconds to close out a 74-71 victory over Cincinnati.

The Panthers (13-2, 3-0 Big East) have won six straight and nine of their last 10 with a balanced offense and gritty defense. Both came into play in a tight game — neither team led by more than seven points.

Pitt made 8 of 11 free throws over the final 62 seconds to protect its lead and show that it's a very poised and dangerous team now that it's back to full strength and in the Top 25 for the first time this season.

"They're not a very easy team to defend," Cincinnati coach Mick Cronin said. "Brown had five second-half baskets that I thought really broke our back. You can't really judge Pitt (except) since they have their full team back."

Pitt is 4-0 since Brown returned from an academic suspension and Jermaine Dixon returned from a broken right foot. Dixon had a career-high 21 points in an 82-72 victory at No. 7 Syracuse on Saturday. The Panthers didn't return home after the breakthrough win, flying to Cincinnati to play one of the Big East's early surprises on its home court.

The Bearcats (10-4, 2-1) already had beaten three ranked teams this season, including Connecticut in their last home game. With Gibbs scoring 14 points in the first half and Brown getting the biggest baskets in the second half, the Panthers were too much.

"It was big for me to just come back and jell with the team," said Brown, who was 5 of 8 from the field in the second half. "Sometimes it's hard for a player to come back, just to be cohesive and go with each other on offense and defense. I still feel we have a lot to do."

Yancy Gates led the Bearcats with 16 points and 14 rebounds. Larry Davis shot an air ball from midcourt at the buzzer to end it.

"It's just getting better," coach Jamie Dixon said. "I think they're improving. I think there's a real understanding that we're not going to be the same team in January that we were in November."