Brayden Burries and Koa Peat became the first pair of freshmen teammates to score 20 points in a Big XII Tournament game as they each scored 21 as Arizona held off Houston 79-73 to pair their regular season title with a postseason one.
Arizona overcame a wrist injury to Jaden Bradley that forced him to the locker room, a 14-0 run and a 7:24 scoring drought in the second half to win. The Wildcats were also in foul trouble throughout most of the game. Tobe Awaka played with four fouls in the second half, Motiejus Krivas had three and Peat fouled out.
Bradley finished with 13 points, all in the first half, on four out of 10 from the field, made both of his three-point attempts and all three of his free throws with five rebounds and two assists. ESPN sideline reporter Kris Budden stated that an X-Ray on Bradley when he went to the locker room was negative.
Play in the first half was even before Arizona went on an 11-3 run over the final 3:29 in the first half to take a 44-36 halftime lead. Arizona led 48-36 when Bradley was injured. The Wildcats extended the lead to 57-42 and 59-44. Houston cut the Arizona lead to 59-58 with the 14-0 run.
Arizona regained control
Arizona answered the Houston run by outscoring the Cougars 12-4 to take a 71-62 lead with 3:17 remaining in the game. The Wildcats still lead 75-66 with 1:31 left on a pair of Peat free throws. Peat missed the front end of a one-and-one with 1:13 left and Arizona still ahead 75-66.
Mercy Miller made a three-point shot on the other end for Houston to cut their deficit to 75-69. On the ensuing in-bounds, Bradley missed a breakaway layup with 59 seconds remaining, when he could have and should have per ESPN lead analyst Jay Bilas, taken time to run the clock.
Milos Uzan made a three -point shot on the other end to cut the Arizona lead to 75-72 with 52 seconds left. Peat missed a jump shot from the right baseline on the next Arizona possession, but Krivas got a critical offensive rebound, was fouled and made two free throws to extend the lead to 77-72.
Peat fouled out with 10 seconds left in the game and Chase McCarty made both free throws for Houston to bring the margin back to three at 77-74. Burries took the in-bounds pass, was fouled and made both free throws to ice the game and Big XII Tournament Championship for Arizona.
Joseph Tugler led Houston with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Miller scored 13, McCarty and Emanuel Sharp both scored 10. Ivan Kharchenkov scored all 12 of his points and had four of his seven rebounds in the second half. Arizona will find out its NCAA Tournament fate on Sunday at 3 PM Mountain Standard Time.