Anthony Dell'Orso leads No. 4 Arizona men's basketball to 73-66 win over No. 2 Houston

Even though they were playing again without forward Koa Peat (leg injury) and Dwayne Aristode (illness), the fourth-ranked Wildcats beat No. 2 Houston 73-66 at the Fertitta Center by riding another big offensive performance from reserve wing Anthony Dell’Orso and getting key contributions from Ivan Kharchenkov and Jaden Bradley.

Dell’Orso hit 8 of 14 field goals while equaling the season-high 22 points he had on Wednesday, when he lead Arizona to a 75-68 win over BYU. Kharchenkov had 16 points, nine rebounds and three assists while Bradley had 17 points, four rebounds and four assists.

The Wildcats shot 44.6% from the field while holding Houston to just 35.7%. Arizona had just five turnovers, the second fewest by a Cougar opponent this season, and outscored Houston 16-3 on points off turnovers.

Basically, they found a way to get it done, no matter who wasn't playing, no matter the opponent, and no matter the rowdy, overcapacity crowd of 7,887 that packed into the small arena for the Top 5 showdown.

"I love playing in tough environments," Kharchenkov said. "Especially on the road, it's nice because after the game, all the fans just leave, and the gym gets real quiet. Then you know you did your job."

The win moved Arizona to 25-2 overall and into sole possession of first place in the Big 12 at 12-2, helping the Wildcats compensate for a homecourt loss to Texas Tech a week earlier. Houston dropped to 23-4 and 11-3.

Earlier in the day, Arizona had been given a tentative No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament early reveal, while Houston was assigned a No. 2 seed in the Midwest -- and outside the South Region, which will feature Sweet 16 and Elite Eight games in Houston.

Leading the entire first half and by 36-31 at halftime, Arizona took a 38-31 lead early in the second half on a 3-pointer from Kharchenkov. But Houston pulled closer over the next five minutes and went ahead 44-42 when Milos Uzan hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 14:16 left.

Houston’s Emanuel Sharp had missed a 3-pointer but Chris Cenac pulled down the rebound and forward Joseph Tugler then passed it to Uzan on the perimeter.

But UA later came back with a 12-0 run that gave it a 60-50 lead with 5:30 left, holding Houston scoreless for over six minutes. The Cougars were missing Tugler for most of that run after he picked up his fourth foul with 11:38 to go.

Saying he was too focused on living possession by possession, UA coach Tommy Lloyd said he didn't even notice the 12-0 run.

"I guess had a memory like a goldfish ... I probably forgot," he said. "I was just trying to figure out a way. Trying to figure out a way."

His mentality was understandable. Entering Saturday, Lloyd was 0-3 against the Cougars and veteran coach Kelvin Sampson: Lloyd's top-seeded Wildcats lost to Houston in the 2022 Sweet 16, and twice last season, once at McKale Center and again in the Big 12 Tournament final.

Sampson said Saturday's game was a lot like the 2025 Big 12 championship game, when Houston outscored Arizona by 13 points in the second half to win 72-64, but Lloyd said all three games wound up being learning experiences.

He even led his postgame media address by saying how coaching against Sampson is making him a better coach.

"You always learn the more you play against people," Lloyd said. "Teams are different year to year but their program has an identity, and our program has an identity.

"So you've got to figure out, if those identities clash, do you have to make a few adjustments? We were able to make some adjustments today, how we moved and spaced the ball a little bit. I thought that alleviated some of the pressure and gave us some space maybe we haven't had before."

As they were in their 75-68 win over BYU on Wednesday, the Wildcats weren't just a pound-it or drive-it inside team, getting to the basket and drawing fouls They did manage to shoot nine more free throws than Houston but missed 20 of 31, while the Cougars were a much more efficient 18 of 22.

But even though they again were lacking in 3-point punch, shooting just 3 for 12 from long range, the Wildcats managed to get 2 of 5 3-pointers and some aggressive driving from Dell'Orso. Meanwhile, Kharchenkov also had another bigger game as he did when he had 18 points and seven rebounds against BYU. 

As a team, Arizona also had just five turnovers, limiting the Cougars to just three points off turnovers.

On the other side of the court, the Wildcats were even more effective: They held Houston to just 40.0% shooting from inside the arc, diminishing the 8-for-26 mark the Cougars shot from 3-point range.

Also, they scored 16 points off Houston's 12 turnovers.

"I'm not crazy into the analytics but us and Houston are literally like, neck and neck in everything" defensively, Lloyd said. "We're a really good defensive team, too. Our coaches put together a good plan, and we have really good players that went out there and executed it with conviction."

Another difference Lloyd said: The Wildcats had a "couple of stretches" where they made shots that fell in when similar shots didn't a week earlier against Texas Tech, a game UA lost 78-75 in overtime.

Together, it was enough for the Wildcats to offset several disadvantages: The losses of Peat and Aristode, who didn't even make the trip while he continues to recover from an unspecified illness, wast just one of them.

Another was that guard Brayden Burries was "still on the mend" from an illness of his own, according to Lloyd, and had just seven points on 1-for-5 shooting.

Also a problem for UA: the double-teams that Houston threw on big men Tobe Awaka and Motiejus Krivas pretty much anytime the Wildcats threw the ball into the post.

Lloyd said Awaka almost tried too hard, saying he was drawing fouls by "running guys over," and Awaka fouled out with 3:45 remaining, when the Wildcats led 60-52. Center Motiejus Krivas fouled out with 45 seconds left.

But UA hung on without both big men, even though Houston cut it to 70-66 with 10.3 seconds left after Uzan hit another 3. Bradley hit 1 of 2 free throws and Kharchenkov hit both he took with one second left to give the Wildcats the final seven-point margin.

The win left Arizona with the inside track not only to a No. 1 NCAA Tournament seed, but an outright Big 12 regular-season title and the conference tournament's No. 1 seed.

But the Wildcats still have to play at Baylor on Tuesday, then host the two of the conference's other top five teams -- Kansas and Iowa State -- before finishing the regular season at Colorado on March 7.

Things can still change. But probably not that much. 

"I told our guys: Obviously, we want to win the Big 12," Lloyd said. "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've got to go take advantage of it."