Cincinnati got a spark from its defense that ignited a 19-point fourth quarter rally to lift the No. 13 Bearcats to a 29-24 win over Hawai'i last night.

The spark came in the form of a tipped Greg Alexander pass that was intercepted and returned for a touchdown by the Bearcats' Brandon Underwood. The 20-yard pick-six with 10:27 left, cut the Warriors' lead to 24-17.

And it was all Cincinnati after that.

The Bearcats scored 12 more unanswered points to win their sixth straight and post the first 11-win season in school history.

"We had to make some plays defensively and we did, as we have all year, and found a way at the end to eek out a hard-fought victory," Cincinnati coach Brian Kelly said.

Kelly said the turning point for his team was Underwood's defensive score.

"Obviously, we needed something good to happen. We got them backed up, (Kevin) Huber, the punter did a great job of backing up Hawai'i, gave us an opportunity but we had to make a play."

A 48-yard Huber punt gave UH posession at the 13-yard line. After a 5-yard run by David Farmer, Bearcats' defensive tackle Terrill Byrd got a hand on Alexander's pass attempt, which was grabbed out of the air by Underwood.

"My defensive linemen, they got their hands up and batted the ball, if it wasn't for them I wouldn't have made that play," Underwood said. "We made a point to go out and play four quarters."

The Warriors found little success in the final 15 minutes other than an early touchdown pass from Alexander to Jon Medeiros. The last five UH drives resulted in three Tim Grasso punts, a safety and Underwood's interception.

"We knew our offense was struggling and our defense is the backbone of the team," said Bearcats' defensive end Connor Barwin, who had three tackles, two for losses, including one sack. "We've got a lot of seniors and we were just waiting to do something to switch that momentum."

A 44-yard field goal by Jake Rogers made it 24-20 and Drew Frey tackled UH running back Daniel Libre in the end zone to pull the Bearcats within two with just under five minutes to go.

Cincinnati took the lead on the very next play, a 69-yard touchdown pass from Dustin Grutza to Mardy Gilyard.

"Our defense was great. There was no doubt that they could do it," Grutza said. "Our (offensive) momentum was down and they totally flipped that and got us back in it."

The Bearcats finished with five sacks for 31 yards in losses and picked off a pass in their sixth consecutive game.

"We prepared for this game like every other one and we tried to come out here and play like we did in every game and that's what we did," Barwin said.