No. 4 Arizona Tops No. 2 Houston in Arizona Vs Houston, 73-66, to Seize Big 12 Lead

The arizona vs houston matchup ended with No. 4 Arizona beating No. 2 Houston 73-66 on the road, a victory that put the Wildcats alone atop the Big 12. The result shifts the title race with four conference games remaining and leaves Houston reeling after back-to-back defeats.

Arizona Vs Houston: Second-half scoring droughts and a decisive 12-0 swing

Arizona erased a two-point deficit late by answering with a 12-0 run to make it 60-50 with about five minutes to play. During that sequence Houston missed consecutive shots and coughed up turnovers that allowed the Wildcats to build separation. The Cougars went more than 10 minutes without a field goal at one point in the second half, and another account of the game notes the team missed 10 straight field-goal attempts in the period as Arizona outscored Houston 15-6 while the drought persisted.

Chris Cenac Jr. had put Houston ahead with a jumper at 12: 57, but the Cougars were limited to just six free-throw attempts between that moment and Kingston Flemings’ 3-pointer with 2: 28 left. Emanuel Sharp snapped an extended Houston scoring drought with two free throws with about 4½ minutes remaining, and Kalifa Sakho’s pair of free throws cut the deficit to 60-54 with under four minutes to go. Flemings finished with 17 points, and Sharp scored 14 for Houston.

Anthony Dell'Orso and Arizona bench lift the Wildcats

Anthony Dell'Orso led Arizona with 22 points—he scored 14 of those in the first half—and was the only Wildcat to reach more than 20. The senior tied a season high with 22, and he had tied his career high with 22 in Arizona’s win over BYU earlier in the week, duplicating that total on Saturday. Dell'Orso, who started 28 of 37 games a season ago before moving to the bench this season, has taken on a key role off the pine.

Freshman Koa Peat did not play; he missed the BYU game after suffering a lower-leg injury in Arizona’s loss to Texas Tech a week earlier and sat out Saturday’s matchup as well. Dell'Orso’s scoring and the bench production helped offset the absence and gave Arizona the margin it needed late in the game.

Houston turnovers and missed shots prove costly

Turnovers haunted Houston all night. The Cougars committed 12 turnovers, which yielded 16 points for Arizona. The Wildcats led by as many as 10 in the first half, and after being up by four early in the second the Cougars used an 8-2 spurt to take a 44-42 lead with roughly 14 minutes left—the first time Houston had led in the contest, around the 14: 16 mark. But Houston’s intermittent droughts, combined with those 12 turnovers, swung the game back to Arizona.

With just over a minute remaining Jaden Bradley hit a short stretch of four straight points for the Wildcats, including a turnaround jumper in the lane with 1: 33 to go that restored a six-point cushion and forced Houston to foul with about 1: 10 left.

Standings and implications inside the Big 12 Conference

The win pushed Arizona to 25-2 overall and 12-2 in Big 12 play; Houston fell to 23-4 and 11-3. Arizona now occupies sole possession of first place in the Big 12 with four conference games remaining. The Wildcats began the season 23-0 but had dropped consecutive contests to then-No. 9 Kansas and then-No. 16 Texas Tech, a skid that knocked them from the No. 1 spot in the Top 25 poll before this recovery.

Kansas entered the day a game behind both Arizona and Houston but lost 84-68 at home to Cincinnati, a result that left the Jayhawks two games behind Arizona and one game behind Houston. No. 6 Iowa State was identified as a potential challenger; if Iowa State defeats AJ Dybantsa and No. 23 BYU late Saturday night, the Cyclones would visit Arizona on March 2, two days after Arizona hosts Kansas.

What makes this notable is how quickly the standings can shift: Arizona’s road victory against a top-two opponent not only halted its slide but also widened the gap, turning a season of close margins and recent losses into a clearer path atop the conference.

Houston’s recent form and season context

Houston had been riding a six-game winning streak until a 70-67 loss at No. 6 Iowa State on Monday night; Saturday’s defeat marked the first time the Cougars dropped consecutive games this season. The struggles to finish possessions and convert shots in stretches of the second half were decisive, and the combination of long scoring droughts and turnovers ultimately decided the outcome in Houston’s arena.