The University of Arizona men’s basketball team (17-8, 11-3 in Big 12) suffered their second consecutive loss, collapsing 62-58 to No. 6 University of Houston (20-4, 12-1 in Big 12) on Saturday, Feb. 15 at noon in McKale Center.
Caleb Love led the Wildcats with 17 points, four rebounds and seven assists. KJ Lewis followed with 13 points, six rebounds and two steals.
“We are really good at staying in the moment when everybody else is somewhere else. I talk to these kids and it’s not just basketball lessons but life lessons. If you focus on what’s in front of you instead and not what’s ahead of you, you usually make better decisions,” said Houston head coach Kelvin Sampson.
First half
Despite Arizona winning the jump ball, Houston got off the first shot with a dunk made by Joseph Tugler. Arizona guard Anthony Dell’Orso responded on the other end with a lay-in of his own. Soon after, Dell’Orso also hit a shot from beyond the arc, grasping an early 5-2 lead for Arizona over the Cougars.
Houston made a second-chance jumper but was met on the other end with a dominating dunk by Henri Veesaar. Mylik Wilson initiated Houston’s first lead of the game, 8-7, after converting a layup off a lost ball turnover. The Wildcats recovered quickly; after a steal, Lewis found the opportunity to dunk on the fast break and the Wildcats led the Cougars 13-8.
After a made jumper by Love that stretched Arizona’s lead to 9 points, Houston’s Terrance Arceneaux hit a 3-pointer to cut the score 19-13. Houston didn’t stop there; L.J. Cryer made a layup on a fast break, getting within 4 points of the Wildcats with 6:25 remaining before the half. Trey Townsend hit a shot from beyond the arc to extend Arizona’s advantage to 7 points, 24-17.
The Cougars were able to pull the score to 22-24, but Love responded to the Cougars by draining a 3-pointer to stretch the lead to 5 points.
Arizona led 27-24 with less than a minute to go before the half. Carter Bryant hit his first 3-pointer of the night to send Arizona into halftime leading Houston 30-25.
Love led the first half, putting up 11 points on 5-for-10 shooting from the field. He also contributed three rebounds, three assists and notably gave up two turnovers.
Second half
Tugler hit a jumper to open the second half and cut the score down to a one-possession lead, with Arizona up 30-27. Love made a swift pass to Jaden Bradley, who made the layup but was answered on the other end with a dunk by Houston. The Cougars took it a step further and tied the score at 32 after Tugler scored another dunk with 17:02 left in regulation.
After a series of free throws made by Love, Houston’s Milos Uzan made a driving layup off an Arizona turnover, tying the score at 34. Love found Veesaar on the other end for a dunk, forcing a timeout. Soon after, Love got a jumper off right as the shot clock expired, igniting the crowd in McKale Center.
Arizona held onto a narrow 44-41 lead after Lewis made a layup, sparking a 6-0 scoring run for the Wildcats. Houston then responded and hit back-to-back shots, creeping onto the disappearing 3-point lead. A made jumper by Uzan allowed Houston to get within 1 point of the Wildcats. Moments later, Cryer hit a shot from beyond the arc to give Houston the 50-48 lead.
Houston went on an intense 12-0 scoring run, holding the Wildcats scoreless for more than five minutes. During this drought, Arizona was met with steals, as Houston forced 11 total turnovers throughout the game and untimely shots causing scoring errors.
J’Wan Roberts made a layup for the Cougars, creating a 5-point advantage with under five minutes left in the game.
The Cougars tapped into their offense late in the second half, as Cryer made a pull-up jumper to give Houston the lead by 7 points. Bryant stopped the bleeding after making a 3-pointer to try and close the 57-56 gap. Uzan made a jumper for Houston but was answered with a second-chance layup by Bryant on the other end as the Cougars held onto their narrow advantage.
A personal foul was called on Bradley, giving two free throws to Houston that created a 3-point lead for the Cougars. After another foul called on Veesaar that put Houston in the bonus, Roberts made 1-of-2 free throws.
The Cougars had control of the score with less than a minute in the game, ultimately winning 62-58. This defeat marks Arizona’s second consecutive loss and third loss in the Big 12.
“Basketball is a game of runs […]. But the main thing was just having the confidence to take the shot. That’s how you win on the road, you just got to be confident in your abilities and take what’s there and that’s what we did,” Cryer said.
“Obviously the missed free throws that we had I think, kind of hurt a little bit down the stretch. I feel like we couldn’t score a little bit for maybe a few minutes […]. We couldn’t get a stop, so I mean, credit to them [Houston] you know, they were running timely sets for the players that were scoring,” Lewis said.
Looking ahead
The Wildcats head back on the road as they prepare to face Baylor University (16-9, 8-6 in Big 12) on Monday, Feb 17 at 8 p.m. in Waco, Texas in Foster Pavilion. The game will be streamed on ESPN.
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