Arizona Vs Houston: No. 4 Arizona beats No. 2 Houston, stands alone atop Big 12
arizona vs houston ended with No. 4 Arizona topping second-ranked Houston 73-66 in Houston on Saturday, a result that put Arizona in sole possession of first place in the Big 12 Conference. Anthony Dell'Orso tied a season high with 22 points for Arizona in the victory.
Arizona Vs Houston: Game flow
The Wildcats (25-2, 12-2) opened the season 23-0 and rebounded to win a second straight game after consecutive losses to then-No. 9 Kansas and then-No. 16 Texas Tech, a skid that had knocked Arizona out of the No. 1 spot in the Top 25 poll. Arizona led by as many as 10 in the first half and held a four-point lead early in the second half before Houston used an 8-2 run to take a 44-42 lead with about 14 minutes left.
Key players and scoring
Anthony Dell'Orso tied a season high with 22 points. For Houston (23-4, 11-3), Kingston Flemings scored 17 points and Emanuel Sharp added 14. The Cougars had not scored in about eight minutes when Sharp made two free throws with 4½ minutes remaining. Kalifa Sakho later converted two free throws to cut the lead to 60-54 with under four minutes left.
Turning points late in game
The Wildcats trailed by two before scoring the next 12 points to make it 60-50 with about five minutes remaining; during that stretch the Cougars missed eight consecutive shots and committed three turnovers. It had been more than 10 minutes since Houston made a field goal when Kingston Flemings hit a 3-pointer to get within 61-57, but Jaden Bradley then scored four straight points for Arizona to pad the lead with just over a minute left. Houston committed 12 turnovers that led to 16 points for Arizona.
Coaching reactions and quotes
Houston coach Kelvin Sampson said, "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. " He added, "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 reflected on the matchup with Sampson: "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. " Lloyd added, "One hundred percent. You look at coaches that kind of set the benchmark. " Lloyd also said, "Obviously, we want to win the Big 12, " called Saturday "a great day" for the program and commented, "But you know what's really cool about being in the Big 12? You can take second or third in the conference and still win the national championship. The conference is that strong. So, we put ourselves in position to be in position. Now, you got to go take advantage of it. "
Broadcast, pregame and related notes
Before the game, a fan discussion preview noted that the Arizona Wildcats and Houston Cougars met with first place in the Big 12 Conference on the line and that the UA had lost all three meetings with Houston under Tommy Lloyd, including last season's conference tournament title game. The preview listed that Arizona-Houston would be shown on ABC and that Jon Sciambi (play-by-play) and Fran Fraschilla (analyst) would be calling the game. The preview said the stream could be viewed on a sports streaming site and that the radio broadcast was available on Wildcats Sports Radio 1290 AM. The preview also encouraged following the conversation on Twitter at @AZDesertSwarm and from editor Brian Pedersen (@realBJP) or the team account (@ArizonaMBB). University of Arizona Athletics had a page titled "Men" in the provided context; the page text is unclear in the provided context.
The fan-discussion content included a copyright line for 2026 Vox Media, LLC and a gambling-help notice that read, "Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER (1-800-426-2537). " Additional helpline details in the context included a Massachusetts support line at 327-5050, a New York contact listed as 877-8HOPE-NY or text HOPENY, a Connecticut contact at 1-888-789-7777, and age-notes reading "21+ (18+ D. C. )" and a note that presence was limited to select states and for Kansas in affiliation with Kansas Star Casino.
Houston had lost consecutive games for the first time this season after falling 70-67 at No. 6 Iowa State on Monday night, which ended a six-game winning streak.
The contributed to this report.
Final records and key figures are: Arizona 25-2 (12-2), Houston 23-4 (11-3), final score 73-66, Anthony Dell'Orso 22 points, Kingston Flemings 17 points, Emanuel Sharp 14 points, 12 turnovers by Houston, and the sequence of late free throws and scoring runs as described above.
