Ncaa Basketball: No. 4 Arizona beats No. 2 Houston, stands alone atop Big 12
No. 4 Arizona traveled to the Fertitta Center and beat No. 2 Houston 73-66 on Saturday, February 21, a win that puts Arizona (25-2, 12-2) alone atop the Big 12 with four games to go and hands the Wildcats the tiebreaker over Houston (23-4, 11-3). The result matters now because it completes a run that took four years and three tries for coach Tommy Lloyd and because it was only the second Big 12 loss at the Fertitta Center since Houston joined the conference in 2023-24.
Ncaa Basketball: Lloyd gets the last Big 12 win he needed
Tommy Lloyd has now beaten every team in the Big 12. Houston had been the only Big 12 school Lloyd had yet to defeat, with Arizona having lost the previous three meetings against the Cougars — including in the 2022 Sweet 16 and in last year’s Big 12 Tournament final — before Saturday’s victory.
How the game unfolded at the Fertitta Center on Saturday, February 21
Arizona led 36-31 at halftime, marking only the second time Houston has trailed at the half in a Big 12 game since joining the league in 2023-24. The Cougars took their final lead at 48-46 with 12: 57 to go, but then went 4 of 19 and missed 11 straight shots in the second half while Arizona ran a decisive 12-0 stretch that gave the Wildcats the lead for good. Houston shot 35. 7 percent for the game and committed 12 turnovers, which produced 16 points for Arizona.
Individual performances that swung the contest
Anthony Dell’Orso delivered his second straight big outing, scoring 22 off the bench and recording a career-high four steals. Jaden Bradley added 17 points and made 5 of 6 free throws in the final 1: 10, while Ivan Kharchenkov finished with 16. Freshman Kingston Flemings led Houston with 17 points but was 6 of 17 from the field, and Emanuel Sharp had 14 points on 2-of-11 shooting.
Rotation, injuries and late-game substitutions
Koa Peat missed his second straight game with a muscle strain in his lower leg area, and Dwayne Aristode sat out a third game with an illness. Dell’Orso played 34 minutes off the bench; Sidi Gueye and Evan Nelson combined for 17 minutes and even subbed each other late in an offense/defense move after Tobe Awaka and Motiejus Krivas both picked up their third fouls. Awaka and Krivas would foul out late, combining for 11 points, 11 rebounds and three of the Wildcats’ nine steals.
Key moments: fouls, free throws and a game-changing run
A Kharchenkov layup tied the game after a timeout, the first of three ties over the next three minutes, before Dell’Orso drilled a 3 to put Arizona up 51-50 with 11: 34 remaining. That basket came off a set play following a media timeout behind a staggered double screen and began the 12-0 run that consumed six minutes and produced a 60-50 lead with 5: 30 to go after a Bradley jumper. Brayden Burries scored four during that stretch, including a putback in traffic; Burries, who needed an IV after Wednesday’s win over BYU, finished with seven points on 1-of-5 shooting and made 3 of 4 free throws in the last minute.
Standings impact and what comes next
The victory moves Arizona to 25-2 overall and 12-2 in Big 12 play, placing the Wildcats in sole possession of first place with four games remaining and giving them the tiebreaker over Houston because this was the teams’ only regular-season meeting. Houston, now 23-4 and 11-3 in the league, visits No. 9 Kansas on Monday trying to avoid a 3-game losing streak. The full game story ends abruptly in the available coverage with the phrase "Houston finally ended its droug" and any continuation is unclear in the provided context.
