Arizona held Houston scoreless for nearly seven minutes in the second half and without a field goal for over 10 minutes to turn a two-point deficit into a 10-point lead and earn arguably its biggest win this season. Houston missed 10 consecutive field goal attempts in that 10-minute stretch.
Chris Cenac Jr. made a pull-up jump shot off the glass to give Houston a 48-46 lead with 12:56 left in the game. Houston did not make another field goal until Kingston Flemings made a three-point shot with 2:28 remaining to rally the Cougars within 61-57.
After the Cenac Jr. basket, Houston went nearly four minutes without an official field goal attempt. That included two turnovers in that span. Arizona forced 12 Houston turnovers, committed only five and had a 16-3 advantage in points off turnovers.
Houston entered the game with Arizona, first nationally, committing only 8.2 turnovers per game and 22nd, forcing 14.3. The Cougars averaged 18.6 PPG off turnovers and allowed 9.3 entering the game with the Wildcats. Arizona more than flipped those numbers in its 73-66 win at Houston on Saturday.
Houston entering the week: 14.8 forced turnovers per game, 19.3 points off turnovers per game, defensive turnover rate above 22%
— Jeff Borzello (@jeffborzello) February 21, 2026
Iowa State: 3 turnovers, allowed 0 points off turnovers, 5.1% turnover rate
Arizona: 5 turnovers, allowed 3 points off turnovers, 7.7% turnover rate
Arizona elite defensively versus Houston
Arizona held Houston to 35.7 percent shooting from the field, eight out of 26 on three-point attempts and had nine steals. The Wildcats were consistently good defensively throughout the game. Houston shot 37.5 percent in the first half and made four out of its 11 three-point attempts.
Houston made 34.4 percent of its shots in the second half and four out of 15 three-point attempts. Arizona particularly did a good job on Houston's star guards, Kingston Flemings and Emanuel Sharpe. Flemings made six of his 17 shots from the field and one out of four three-point shots to finish with 17 points.
Flemings added eight rebounds and four assists. Sharpe scored 14 points on 2-11 from the floor and 2-8 on three-point attempts. The 35.7 percent shooting from the field by Houston was the lowest by an Arizona opponent this season. Arizon entered the game against Houston eighth nationally, allowing 39.1 percent from the field.