Anthony Dell’Orso matched his season-high of 22 points to lead No. 4 Arizona to a 73-66 victory Saturday at No. 2 Houston, handing the Cougars their first home loss of the season and second since they joined the Big 12 in 2023-24.
The Wildcats (25-2, 12-2 Big 12) took sole possession of the conference lead with the win over Houston (23-4, 11-3).
Arizona managed to win despite not having freshman starting forward Koa Peat (lower-leg muscle strain) and frontcourt starters Tobe Awaka and Motiejus Krivas fouling out.
Dell’Orso went down with what looked like a serious ankle sprain with less than 2 minutes remain but managed to return.
Freshman reserve guard Dwayne Aristode (undisclosed illness) did not accompany team to Houston.
Brayden Burries appeared lethargic at times, fighting back from an illness and finished with seven points while making 1 of 5 shots from the field. He did not score his first points of the game until 9:22 remained, when he made two free throws.
Tommy Lloyd to Brian Jeffries on 1290-AM after the 73-66 win at Houston:
"This was a great program win. You chalk it up to the medical staff. You chalk it up to the trainers. You chalk it up to the strength and conditioning team. I mean, those guys are the ones that got us…— Javier Morales (@JavierJMorales) February 21, 2026
Jaden Bradley had 17 points and four assists with only one turnover in 37 minutes.
Arizona had only five turnovers while Houston had 12, allowing the Wildcats to outscore the Cougars 16-3 in points off turnovers.
Ivan Kharchenkov added 16 points, many coming in the paint, where the Wildcats outscored Houston 38-20.
Kingston Flemings led Houston with 17 points, eight rebounds and four assists.
Emanuel Sharp had 14 points but shot 2 of 11 from the field.
Chris Cenac Jr. had 10 points and 13 rebounds.
A 12-0 run by Arizona, fueled by four points each from Burries and Dell’Orso, put the Wildcats ahead 60-50 with 5:30 left.
The Cougars went through a stretch with 10 straight missed field-goal attempts before Flemings made a 3-pointer with 2:27 left that cut the lead to 61-57.
Bradley answered with a jumper and then converted two free throws to give the Wildcats a 65-57 lead with 1:10 left.
Dell’Orso went down with the sprained ankle shortly thereafter.
After Joseph Tugler made a dunk, Bradley was fouled and made both free throws to put Arizona ahead 67-59 with 49 seconds left.
Dell’Orso then made his return.
Flemings was fouled by Krivas, who fouled out, and made both free throws.
Burries made two free throws before Tugler made another dunk to cut the lead to 69-63 with 37 seconds left.
After Burries made one of two free throws, Uzan drilled a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 70-66 with 10.3 seconds left.
Bradley converted 1 of 2 free throws, and after a failed 3-pointer by Flemings, Kharchenkov made two free throws with 1.6 seconds left to seal the win.
Arizona led the entire first half after getting off to a 9-2 lead four minutes into the game.
A 10-3 run gave the Wildcats a 14-5 lead with 13:08 left in the half.
The lead improved to 20-11 with 10:44 remaining until halftime.
At that point, Flemings was whistled for his second foul.
Arizona also encountered early foul trouble with Awaka and Krivas out much of the first half with two fouls each.
Dell’Orso picked up the slack scoring seven points by the time Arizona led 20-11.
His 3-pointer with 3:48 left in the half put Arizona ahead 32-22, its biggest lead at that point.
Flemings returned with 5:22 remaining until halftime and led a 7-2 surge late with five points, cutting the Wildcats’ lead to 36-31 at the half.
Arizona shot 56% from the field and had only three turnovers at the half.
Houston shot 37.5% afield and had seven turnovers that contributed to the Wildcats having a 10-0 edge in points off turnovers.
The Cougars went on an 8-2 run and took their first lead of the game, 44-42, after a 3-pointer by Milos Uzan with 14:16 left.
Arizona finished 44.6% from the field while holding Houston to 35.7%. That was key because the Wildcats struggled from the free-throw line, making 20 of 31. Houston was 18 of 22 at the line.
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