Houston Cougars On SI

Houston defeats Arizona: Live updates, score of Big 12 Tournament championship game

Cougars cap impressive run through the conference with first Big 12 tourney title

Buck Ringgold

Houston guard LJ Cryer
Houston guard LJ Cryer / Thomas Shea/Imagn Images
In this story:

Houston capped an impressive run through the Big 12 Conference this season with a tournament title.

Behind a career-high 25 points from point guard Milos Uzan, the Cougars won their first Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship tournament title, outlasting Arizona, 72-64, Saturday at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City.

Saturday's win finished off perhaps the most impressive run by any team in the history of the Big 12. The Cougars won a conference record 19 regular-season games, and then marched through three more conference foes to win the Big 12 tournament a year after losing to Iowa State in the same game.

How to watch, stream Houston basketball vs. Arizona for Big 12 title: TV, predictions

Houston, which left no doubt it will be one of the four top seeds at the upcoming NCAA Tournament, also enter that tournament on a big-time run. The Cougars (30-4) enter the NCAA's on a 13-game winning streak and now have won 26 of their last 27 ballgames.

Uzan had 17 of his 25 points in the second half. The first-year point guard, who transferred from Oklahoma in the offseason, also made four 3-pointers, went 5-of-5 from the foul line, had four assists and didn't commit a single turnover.

Junior shooting guard Emanuel Sharp continued his impressive run in the Big 12 tournament with 17 points, making three treys. Sharp averaged more than 20 points in Houston's three conference tourney wins and was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.

On Friday, Houston scored the game's first 15 points in eventually cooling off what had been a red-hot BYU team, 74-54, in the semifinal round. Sharp led the way with 26 points.

Arizona entered the tournament as the No. 3 seed but knocked off Kansas in the quarterfinals and then downed No. 2 seed Texas Tech in Friday's semifinals behind 27 points from All-Big 12 first-team standout Caleb Love.

When the two teams faced off in the regular season, Houston came away with a 62-58 win in Tucson.

Follow Houston Cougars On SI writer Buck Ringgold (@Bucks_Ballpark) for all of the live updates and scoring from Kansas City's T-Mobile Center. Refresh for the latest score and live updates.

HOUSTON 72, ARIZONA 64 FINAL

Refresh for the latest updates.

POSTGAME STATS AND ANALYSIS

- Houston shot 42.6% from the field (26-of-61), and were 91.7% from the foul line (11-of-12). Arizona made 43.9% of its shots (25-of-57) and were 27.8% from 3-point range (5-of-18).

- Emanuel Sharp added 17 points and made three 3's. LJ Cryer and Mylik Wilson each added 9 points in the win.

- What a game from Milos Uzan. A team-high 25 points on 8-of-16 shooting. Went 4-of-6 from 3-point range and 5-of-5 from the foul line. Four assists. And no turnovers. Wow.

- For the first time in program history, the Houston Cougars are Big 12 tournament champions. What a run in the Big 12 for Houston. 19-1 regular season and a tournament title. Thirteen straight wins and 26 wins out of its last 27 ballgames. Now, 30 wins on the season entering the NCAA's.

SECOND HALF

- Emanuel Sharp steps up and knocks down a pair of foul shots. Six-point Houston lead. (Houston, 70-64 | :17, 2nd)

- And a costly double dribble on Arizona. Wildcats shooting themselves in the foot the past couple of minutes. (Houston, 68-64 | :31, 2nd)

- SLAM DUNK HOUSTON. WHAT A PLAY FROM Ja'Vier Francis, as he comes up with a loose ball and finds a gaping hole to the basket and he takes it in for the slam. Four-point lead, Coogs. (Houston, 68-64 | :42, 2nd)

- Emanuel Sharp misses a 3 and Arizona gets the board. But Caleb Love travels, and Houston has the lead and the ball entering the final minute. (Houston, 66-64 | 1:09, 2nd)

- Now a career high for Milos Uzan with 25 points as he gets a shot to go high off the glass. But JoJo Tugler picks up his fifth foul, so he's out. Cougars hanging on for more than two minutes. (Houston, 66-62 | 2:33, 2nd)

- 3-POINTER HOUSTON. Milos Uzan ties his career high with 23 points, and his triple from the top of the key puts the Coogs back in front. (Houston, 64-62 | 5:09, 2nd)

- Arizona now on a 7-0 run and has taken the lead on a Tobe Awaka stickback. Awaka has six points and eight rebounds. (Arizona, 62-61 | 5:28, 2nd)

- JoJo Tugler has four fouls, and Arizona is not going way, as the Wildcats have pulled to within a point with six minutes to play. (Houston, 61-60 | 6:00, 2nd)

- Huge break for Houston before the under-8 time out as Arizona was going down the court and Jaden Bradley loses the handle on the ball. (Houston, 59-55 | 7:46, 2nd)

- Houston up six with 10 minutes to go. (Houston, 59-53 | 10:00, 2nd)

- Mylik Wilson with 9 points off the bench. Milos Uzan now leads the Cougars with 17 points and has four assists. (Houston, 56-48 | 11:04, 2nd)

- 3-POINTER HOUSTON. Mylik Wilson drains a 3. He's brought tremendous energy off the bench the past couple of days. (Houston, 54-46 | 12:12, 2nd)

- Houston breaks a tie on an LJ Cryer 3; then Mylik Wilson gets a step-back jumper to bounce home. Arizona calls time out. (Houston, 49-44 | 13:08, 2nd)

- 3-POINTER HOUSTON. Emanuel Sharp with another huge trey to tie things up at the first media time out of the half. Sharp now with 15 points and is 6-of-11 from the field. (40-40 | 15:45, 2nd)

- Houston came out of the locker room on a 6-0 run, including a pair of shots from Emanuel Sharp, but Arizona regains the lead with a 3. (Arizona, 36-34 | 17:45, 2nd)

- The second half is now under way.

HALFTIME STATS AND ANALYSIS

- Emanuel Sharp and Milos Uzan with 8 points each to lead Houston in the first half. Caleb Love leads all scorers with 14 points.

- Arizona ends the first half with an emphatic slam off a missed shot and an offensive rebound. Wildcats played well the last several minutes.

FIRST HALF

- Houston is shooting 37.5% from both the field (9-of-24) and 3-point range (3-of-8) so far. (Arizona, 24-21 | 4:14, 1st)

- Arizona is on a 13-2 run and the Wildcats' fans have made themselves heard inside T-Mobile Center. (Arizona, 24-21 | 4:40, 1st)

- Under-8 media time out and can't come at a better time for Houston. Arizona is on a 5-0 run . (Houston, 19-16 | 7:49, 1st)

- 3-POINTER HOUSTON. Block by JoJo Tugler underneath the goal, Houston comes up with it and it leads to a trey from Emanuel Sharp. Arizona calls time out. (Houston, 17-9 | 10:30, 1st)

- 3-POINTER HOUSTON. Five quick points from point guard Milos Uzan, including a trey after Arizona closed to within two. (Houston, 12-7 | 11:41, 1st)

- Both teams struggling to score since Emanuel Sharp's early fireworks. Houston is 2-of-8 from the field while Arizona is 1-of-8. (Houston, 5-2 | 15:17, 1st)

- Houston scored the game's first five points and kept Arizona scoreless for four-plus minutes. (Houston, 5-2 | 15:55, 1st)

- 3-POINTER HOUSTON. And right from the get-go, Emanuel Sharp knocks down a 3. He is on pace to be the tournament's MVP. (Houston, 3-0 | 19:45, 1st)

- We are now under way at the T-Mobile Center.

PREGAME

- J'Wan Roberts is going to be out again as he will get his right ankle healed up for the upcoming NCAA Tournament.

- Same Houston starting 5 as Friday. Kelvin Sampson going with four guards again in LJ Cryer, Milos Uzan, Emanuel Sharp and Terrance Arceneaux. Joseph Tugler starting at forward.

- Coming to you from the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, it's the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship tournament title game as Houston takes on Arizona.

Published |Modified
Buck Ringgold
BUCK RINGGOLD

Home/Basketball