Kansas City, Missouri — The University of Arizona men’s basketball team (22-12, 14-6 in Big 12) ended its Big 12 tournament run with a 72-64 defeat to the No. 1 University of Houston (30-4, 19-1 in Big 12) on Saturday, March 15 at 5 p.m. in T-Mobile Center.
Caleb Love led the Wildcats with 19 points and four rebounds while Jaden Bradley followed closely with 14 points, four rebounds and two assists. Arizona was held to just 27.8% (5-for-18) when shooting from the 3-point line, compared to the 50% the Wildcats shot against No. 2 Texas Tech University in the 86-80 semi finals victory. Houston gained its 14th consecutive victory, led by guard Milos Uzan, who had 25 points and shot 8-for-16 from the field and 4-of-6 from the 3-point line.
“It was a tough year, a tough conference, for us to compete with the best of the best as far as conferences (go). I’m proud of my guys, I’m proud of the coaches for you know, leading us. We’ve been through so much adversity and we’ve overcome so much adversity and hardships,” Love said. “I’m just proud that, you know, we made it this far and we’ll be ready for the post season and March Madness.”
“They got us twice this year and you know, they won the conference by four or five games and they won the conference tournament. So, at this moment, they’re the king of the Big 12, so nothing but respect for them,” Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd said. “Proud of our guys, you know we obviously came here wanting to compete for a championship and we did.”
Though Arizona closed out the tournament with an unwanted loss, the Wildcats proved to be resilient and are a team as pragmatic as ever, able to make it to the Big 12 Championships regardless of it being their first season in the conference.
First half
Houston shot a 3-pointer seconds after winning the tip, beginning the game with a 3-pointer to take the early lead. Arizona started 0-for-7 on their shots for the night, until Henri Veesaar put the Wildcats on the board 5-2 with a made dunk. Bradley made it a one-possession game with two made free throws, bringing the score to 5-4. Terrance Acreneaux hit a jumper to stretch the 7-4 lead, followed by Uzan scoring a layup to get the 5-point advantage. Despite two more free throws hit by KJ Lewis, Houston brought the lead back up to 5 points after Uzan hit a 3-pointer.
Love hit a stepback jumper out of a timeout to shorten the 12-9 deficit. However, Houston kept getting open looks as Joseph Tugler and Emanuel Sharp scored on back-to-back possessions after the Cougars blocked a layup attempted by Trey Townsend.
Carter Bryant made a 3-pointer, closing in on Houston’s 5 point lead. Love followed on the possession by scoring a driving layup that trimmed the score to 19-16 with 8:57 remaining in the first half. This started over a two minute scoring drought up until Love hit an and-1 to complete the 3-point play.
Tobe Awaka capped off a 10-0 Arizona scoring run with a hookshot jumper that allowed the Wildcats to take a 2 point lead until Houston guard Mylik Wilson made a shot of his own, tying the game at 21.
Soon after, Awaka ended up on the floor scrambling for the ball that eventually landed in Bradley’s hands as he hit a 3-pointer to give Arizona a 24-21 lead with 4:14 remaining in the first half. Love hit another jumper, this time off a Cougar turnover but was quickly responded to 14 seconds later with Uzan scoring on a play that cut the score to 26-23.
Both programs traded off the next possession, but Veesaar tipped in another dunk just at the buzzer to close the half as Arizona led 33-28. Love led the Wildcats at the halftime mark with 14 first half points, shooting 6-of-13 from the field.
Second half
Sharp opened the second half for Houston with a 3-pointer to grab a 33-32 lead after Uzan hit two free throws. Almost two minutes later, Sharp hit a jumper in the paint that gave Houston a brief 1-point lead before Bryant hit a shot from beyond the arc that gave the Wildcats back a 2 point advantage.
Veesaar tipped in the ball after a missed layup attempted by Bradley, allowing the Wildcats to be tied at 42 with Houston. After Arizona scored a layup, shot by Lewis, the Cougars scored back-to-back, causing a 30 second timeout called by Arizona. Houston had found a 7-0 scoring run, allowing them to gain a 10-point advantage. Bradley then stopped the run with a layup, continuing to attack offensively for the Wildcats. Uzan and Love traded 3-pointers as Arizona fought to close the 6 point deficit.
Love made a 3-pointer, followed two minutes later with a layup by Lewis, slowly closing the 59-55 gap with 7:46 remaining in the game. LJ Cryer hit a jumper for Houston that brought the Cougar lead back up to 6 points, but Bradley and Lewis both followed the shot with layups, shortening the now 2 point advantage.
Awaka grabbed a 1-point lead for Arizona after scoring on a second chance layup as Arizona led Houston 62-61 with 5:28 left in the game. Uzan shot a 3-pointer for Houston that brought the Cougars up by 2 points. After a turnover, Uzan hit another shot, this time a jumper that separated Houston by 4 points.
As Houston extended its 68-64 lead, Arizona was forced to play the foul game. The Wildcats then succumbed to four made Cougar free throws, closing the game 72-64 to claim the Big 12 Championship title.
Looking ahead
Just under 24 hours away from Selection Sunday, the Arizona Wildcats will wait for their seeding as March Madness continues. The bracket will be revealed on March 16, at 4 p.m. on CBS.
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