Houston’s n ° 6 increased its advance at the top of the Big 12 ranking with a 62-58 victory against Arizona No. 13 on Saturday at the McKale Center. The cougars entered the weekend with an advance of an Arizona match for first place in the Big 12 and left Tucson, Arizona, with an advantage of two games on the Wildcats with the equality break tête-à-tête
Arizona led by nine points in the first half before Houston overthrows the switch. The cougars carried out a 12-0 race in the depths of the second half and held the Arizona aimlessly on the ground for more than six minutes to take control. The Wildcats finished 8 out of 22 of the ground in the second half after taking an advance of 30-25 in the locker room.
Arizona goalkeeper KJ Lewis missed a 3 -point pointer with 12.5 seconds to play, and Houston striker, I Wan Roberts, divided a pair of free throws at the other end for Seal the victory of the road team. Arizona fell to 8-2 against opponents classified at home under the trainer Tommy Lloyd.
Bracketology: Auburn is the seeded with Alabama, Duke and Florida also n ° 1 while the NCAA reveals the early support
Jerry Palm
Houston Guards LJ Cryer and Milos Uzan combined to score 23 of 37 Houston points in the second period. Uzan finished with 19 out of 8 shots of the 12 shots, while Cryer added 15. Uzan, the transfer of Oklahoma, has now scored in two figures in eight consecutive matches dating back to an eruption victory on UTAH last month .
The cougars (21-4, 13-1 Big 12) won 17 of their last 18 games after starting 4-3. Houston continues his quest for a second consecutive title in the regular season of Big 12 Tuesday against Arizona State on the road, while Arizona (17-8, 11-3) faces Baylor on Monday.
Houston is the most underestimated team in the country
The NCAA revealed its 16 best series heads on Saturday and Houston registered in fourth and last seeded n ° 2.. The cougars have played as one of the best teams in the country since it started slowly with defeats Early for Auburn, Alabama and the state of San Diego. Houston has won 17 of his last 18 games and should be a competitor to win a seeded n ° 1 in the NCAA tournament, according to how the rest of the season is shaking. The only cougars hiccups came against a very good Texas Tech team at the start of the month at home. Houston’s defense is a great reason why Kelvin Sampson’s team will be one of the most difficult withdrawals in March.
Arizona’s notation drought in the section was the difference
The Arizona controlled Houston in the first half, but a large drought of score which lasted more than six minutes from the end of the second half was the difference. Houston was able to perform a sequence of 12-0 while the Arizona could not drop a shot, and that is the reason why the cougars were able to escape with a victory. The Arizona went only 1 of 9 of the 3 -point line in the last 20 minutes, and the star goalkeeper Caleb Love pulled 1 of 5 (0 out of 3 of the 3 -point line) in the second period. Love took a good start, scoring 11 points on the 5 out of 10 shot in the first half, but Houston was able to cool it after that.
The cougars are on the driver’s seat to win the Big 12
The next time the Arizona and Houston could play with each other, it is in the Big 12 tournament next month, because these programs are only played once in the regular season. With an advance of two games on Arizona with six games to play, it would take a collapse at the end of the season for Houston to fall from first place. The two biggest matches remaining on the Houston calendar are Iowa State and Texas Tech (on the road). If cougars avenging their defeat against Texas Tech, it will be difficult for other teams in the ranking to catch them at the top.
