Arizona was right there for it, to steal a Tommy Lloyd phrase, but could not seize it.
The Wildcats led by a point with 5:32 left after a putback by Tobe Awaka and failed to make a shot from the field afterward.
Houston outscored Arizona 11-2 down the stretch to pull away to a 72-64 victory in the Big 12 tournament championship game at Kansas City, Mo.
No. 3 Arizona (22-12) missed all five of its shots, all 3-pointers, from the field in the last five minutes. The Wildcats also committed three turnovers in that span.
Houston was without starting big man J’Wan Roberts, whose right foot was in a boot, but Lloyd knew No. 1 Houston (30-4) would be formidable nonetheless.
Kelvin Sampson cuts down the net pic.twitter.com/1OgDxWk4Iq
— Joseph Duarte (@Joseph_Duarte) March 16, 2025
The Cougars beat Arizona in the two meetings between the teams this season. They trailed at halftime in each game — the only two times they have been behind at the half this season.
“We’re right there; they’re obviously missing one of their better players, so you gotta acknowledge that,” Lloyd said in the postgame press conference. “I mean, that guy (Roberts) — he’s a really good player that sat out today.
“We’re right there, but it doesn’t matter. Doesn’t matter if you close the gap or not. You gotta get it done. We’re Arizona basketball. We’re used to winning championships, too, and we know that’s where we belong and that’s where we want to get. Right now Houston is above us and we’re going to do what we can to close that gap.”
Milos Uzan, who scored a career-high 25 points, put Houston ahead 64-62 with a 3-pointer with 5:09 left.
The Cougars did not trail thereafter.
Arizona committed a shot-clock violation and then Uzan made a shot in the lane after an offensive rebound by Houston, giving the Cougars a 66-62 lead with 3:53 remaining.
After both teams failed to convert on their next two possessions, Caleb Love made two free throws after he was fouled on a fast-break layup attempt.
Down 66-64 with 1:37 left, Arizona still had a lot of hope.
Emanuel Sharp missed a 3-pointer for Houston and the Wildcats had a chance to tie the game but Love traveled while trying to penetrate.
Arizona got in a scrum for the ball on Houston’s possession but Ja’vier Francis broke free for a dunk with 43 seconds left to put Houston ahead 68-64.
Jaden Bradley then lost possession of the ball and was called for traveling.
Sharp was fouled with 17 seconds left and he made both free throws.
Arizona’s last-gasp 3-pointer by Love with 10 seconds left did not draw iron.
“It was kind of just a lot of ‘iso’ (isolation) ball on their offense, and we decided to play one-on-one,” Love said about Arizona’s defensive shortcomings down the stretch. “That’s something that we got to get better at looking at film — knowing tendencies of guys, (their) certain moves and things like that.
“And then our offense, me and JB (Bradley), we’ve got to own those two turnovers that we had in the clutch. Coach puts a lot of confidence into us, and a lot of the responsibility for putting the ball in our hands in those moments. We’ve got to deliver. We’ll own it, and we’ll be better for it.”
Love, who was named to the All-Big 12 Tournament Team, finished with 19 points on 7-of-19 shooting, 2 of 9 from 3-point range.
Bradley had 14 points with four rebounds but finished with four turnovers and two assists.
KJ Lewis continued his strong play with 11 points on 5-of-9 shooting, all made shots coming in the lane off penetration.
Awaka had six points and nine rebounds.
Henri Veesaar finished with eight points on 4-of-6 shooting from the field with six rebounds.
Trey Townsend, who played well enough to return to the starting lineup, did not score and missed two shots in his eight minutes.
Sharp, voted the tournament MVP, had 17 points but he had to work for them, shooting 6 of 17 from the field, 3 of 9 from beyond the arc.
“We were undersized but not under-toughed,” Houston coach Kelvin Sampson said in regards to Roberts being out. “Our kids were tough tonight.”
With his team ahead 33-28 at halftime, Lloyd told ESPN: “We know it’s going to be tough, but we’re here for it. I mean, Arizona basketball is not West coast-soft. We love being in the Big 12. … We’re here to show we belong.”
Arizona battled back from a 19-11 deficit with 10:07 left in the first half after Sharp made a 3-pointer and another jump shot on consecutive possessions.
The Wildcats then went on a 15-2 run with Love scoring seven of those points.
His jumper with 3:18 left in the half concluded the run and gave Arizona a 26-21 lead.
Arizona closed the half making 10 of its last 14 shots from the field. Love made half of them. The Wildcats missed their first seven shots from the field in the game but went 13 of 23 the remainder of the half.
Veesaar put an exclamation point on the half with a put-back slam as time expired.
Houston set the tone early in the second half scoring the first six points.
The Cougars made three 3-pointers in a three-minute span, one each by Uzan, Sharp and LJ Cryer, to build a 49-44 lead with 13:11 left.
Houston later went on a 12-2 run to take a 56-46 lead with 11:43 left.
The Cougars made 11 of 14 shots from the field leading up to that point with Sharp and Mylik Wilson making three baskets each and Uzan converting a couple in that stretch.
Lloyd was not pleased with how Arizona defended in that sequence when its guards were isolated against Houston’s guards.
“We’re a good defensive team; that’s why I was a little bit disappointed today,” Lloyd said. “We kind of got isolated and targeted a little bit, and we didn’t get stops. I mean, it wasn’t complicated stuff. It was literally like, (Houston) picking a guy, ‘We’re gonna go with this guy, and we think we could score on him.’
“Well, step up. Step up. As a competitor, get a stop. I mean, it’s one-on-one in the park. It’s with your brother in the backyard. I mean, that’s what we do. And so that was disappointing to me, but it’s obviously something we’ve got to get better at.”
Arizona responded after Houston’s 12-2 run by outscoring the Cougars 16-5, compiling 10 points off strong drives to the basket, to take the 62-61 lead with 5:32 left.
Then it was like the cord was unplugged from Arizona’s offensive energy.
On to the NCAA tournament. Arizona will know Sunday its seed, opponent and location for March Madness.
“We’re proud we were able to compete for a conference championship today,” Lloyd reasoned. “We just want to get it done. We’ll move forward. We’ll move forward, and I can’t wait to see who’s line pops up tomorrow. We will be excited to meet them next Thursday or Friday.”
Sampson mentioned that Arizona could go a long way in the NCAA tournament depending on its draw.
“I know Love is tough, Bradley’s tough and KJ Lewis is tough,” he said. “That Veesaar kid’s really good. He’ll be a first-round draft choice. Awaka’s tough. That’s a tough team we played tonight.
“I know Tommy is an outstanding coach and he has a great staff, too. That’s a good team. If they get the right draw, they can play for a long time next week and the following week.”
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ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club award winner. He is a former Arizona Daily Star beat reporter for the Arizona basketball team, including when the Wildcats won the 1996-97 NCAA title. He has also written articles for CollegeAD.com, Bleacher Report, Lindy’s Sports, TucsonCitizen.com, The Arizona Republic, Sporting News and Baseball America, among many other publications. He has also authored the book “The Highest Form of Living”, which is available at Amazon. He became an educator in 2016 and is presently a special education teacher at Sunnyside High School in the Sunnyside Unified School District.
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