No. 4 Arizona beats No. 2 Houston in Arizona Vs Houston, Wildcats stand alone atop Big 12
In a matchup billed for conference supremacy, arizona vs houston ended with No. 4 Arizona topping No. 2 Houston 73-66 in Houston, moving the Wildcats into sole possession of first place in the Big 12 Conference. The outcome tightened the conference race and extended a rocky stretch and recovery for both clubs.
Arizona moves into sole possession of first place, Dell'Orso scores 22
Anthony Dell'Orso tied a season high with 22 points as Arizona held off Houston for the 73-66 win. The Wildcats improved to 25-2 overall and 12-2 in Big 12 play; they had opened the season 23-0. The victory was Arizona's second straight after consecutive losses to then-No. 9 Kansas and then-No. 16 Texas Tech that knocked the Wildcats out of the No. 1 spot in the Top 25 poll.
Late 12-0 surge defined the finish
Arizona trailed by two in the closing stages before scoring the next 12 points to make it 60-50 with about five minutes remaining. In that stretch the Cougars missed eight consecutive shots and committed three turnovers, a run that allowed the Wildcats to build and protect their late lead. Jaden Bradley added four straight points for Arizona with just over a minute left to pad the margin.
Houston scoring droughts and turnovers hurt the Cougars
Houston, now 23-4 and 11-3 in conference play, suffered extended scoring lapses at key moments. The Cougars went about eight minutes without a score before Emanuel Sharp made two free throws with 4½ minutes to go. Kalifa Sakho then made two free throws to cut the lead to 60-54 with less than four minutes remaining. It had been more than 10 minutes since Houston made a field goal when Kingston Flemings splashed a 3-pointer to get the Cougars within 61-57; Flemings finished with 17 points and Sharp added 14.
The Cougars committed 12 turnovers that led to 16 Arizona points. The loss was Houston's second straight, the first time the team had lost consecutive games this season after falling 70-67 at No. 6 Iowa State on Monday night to end a six-game winning streak.
Shifts earlier in the game set the stage: 8-2 run and first lead for Houston
Arizona led by as many as 10 in the first half and held a four-point edge early in the second half before Houston responded with an 8-2 run to make it 44-42 and claim its first lead of the game with about 14 minutes left. Those momentum swings—Arizona's early cushion, Houston's middle run and Arizona's late 12-0 push—formed the spine of a tightly contested game.
Coaches weighed in after a hard-fought match
Houston coach Kelvin Sampson praised Arizona and reflected on the matchup: "We've had some great battles with Arizona. And they're really good. I'd say that's a good team. They've got an outstanding team, really well-coached. They remind me of a lot of the teams that we've had around here. And they came in here with the right mindset. And maybe we didn't have the right mindset as much as we needed to. "
Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd spoke about coaching against Sampson and the program's position in the league: "I don't know what my coaching career's going to end up at. But I do know one thing: I've become a better coach coaching against Kelvin Sampson. One hundred percent. You look at coaches that kind of set the benchmark. " Lloyd also said, "Obviously, we want to win the Big 12, " and called Saturday "a great day" for the program, adding that the conference's depth means teams finishing second or third still have national championship potential.
Series note and game-day context
The Arizona Wildcats and Houston Cougars met with first place in the Big 12 on the line; under Tommy Lloyd, the UA had lost all three previous meetings with Houston, including last season's conference tournament title game. The event was listed as Men's Basketball at Houston on Saturday, February 21, and game-day coverage included commentators Jon Sciambi (play-by-play) and Fran Fraschilla (analyst).
