HOUSTON — Anthony Dell’Orso tied a season high with 22 points and No. 4 Arizona toppled second-ranked Houston 73-66 on Saturday to move into sole possession of first place in the Big 12 Conference.
Arizona (25-2, 12-2), which opened the season 23-0, won its second straight game following consecutive losses to then-No. 9 Kansas and then- 16th-ranked Texas Tech, that knocked the team out of the No. 1 spot in the AP Top 25 poll.
The Wildcats were down by two before scoring the next 12 points to make it 60-50 with about five minutes remaining. The Cougars missed eight consecutive shots and had three turnovers in that stretch to allow Arizona to build the lead.
Houston (23-4, 11-3) hadn’t scored in about eight minutes when Emanuel Sharp made two free throws with 4 ½ minutes to go. Kalifa Sakho made two more free throws to cut the lead to 60-54 with less than four minutes remaining.
It had been more than 10 minutes since the Cougars made a field goal when a 3-pointer by Kingston Flemings got them within 61-57, but Arizona got four straight points by Jaden Bradley to pad the lead with just over a minute left.
Flemings had 17 points and Sharp added 14 for the Cougars, who lost consecutive games for the first time this season after falling 70-67 at No. 6 Iowa State on Monday night to end a six-game winning streak.
The Cougars struggled to take care of the ball, committing 12 turnovers that led to 16 points for the Wildcats.
Arizona led by as many as 10 in the first half and was up by four early in the second half before the Cougars used an 8-2 run to make it 44-42, giving them their first lead of the game with about 14 minutes left.
Arizona visits Baylor Tuesday night.
Houston visits No. 8 Kansas Monday night.
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