A game between some Wildcats and Cougars looked more like a dog fight Saturday afternoon in Tucson.
This dog fight was won in favor of No. 6 Houston Cougars (21-4, 13-1) over No. 13 Arizona Wildcats (17-8, 11-3), 62-58, at the McKale Center. The Cougars move up to two games ahead of the Wildcats in the Big 12 standings after winning the only regular-season matchup between the schools.
The Wildcats came into the weekend as the top scoring offense in the Big 12 at 82.3 points per game and ran right into the top scoring defense in the nation in Houston (57.3). Whenever a clash between differing styles comes to head, one will inevitably be the focal point.
From the get-go it was clear it was the latter, a defensive rock fight in which neither team was going to lead by much more than a few possessions. Arizona held the largest lead of the game at nine and led for 28:57 minutes while Houston led for just 7:43 — but led when it mattered, shooting 8-of-12 from the field over the final 8:32 of the game.
The Wildcats led 48-41 around the nine-minute mark of the second half, but went ice cold down the stretch. Arizona missed five straight field goals while Houston guards Milos Uzan and L.J. Cryer led a comeback give their squad a 53-49 lead by the five-minute mark. The only points the Wildcats could get were a couple of free throws as they went 3-of-11 from the field over the final nine minutes.
Carter Bryant hit a 3-pointer at the 1:41 mark to break the long snide that lasted nearly eight minutes. His clutch bucket cut the Houston deficit down to 57-56.
Houston closed the game off the heals of a jumper by Uzan and the Cougars patented defense. The Cougars outscored the Wildcats 37-28 in the second half.
Arizona shot 5 for 23 from 3-point range, including 1 of 9 in the second half.
Caleb Love finished with a team-high 17 points on 6-of-15 shooting from the field but went a paltry 1-of-8 from long range. He did dish out seven assists — and five turnovers — including a pair of back-door dimes to KJ Lewis who finished with 13 points.
Uzan paced Houston with 19 points on 8-of-12 shooting to go along with five assists. Cryer added 15 on 6-of-12 shooting.
Arizona will play at Baylor on Monday night.
from Arizona Sports https://ift.tt/LTkjAOD
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