Milos Uzan poured in 25 points, Emanuel Sharp added 17 and second-ranked Houston turned up its trademark defense in the final minute to hold on for a 72-64 victory over Arizona in the Big 12 Tournament championship game Saturday night.
Playing without injured big man J’Wan Roberts, the Cougars (30-4) took a 64-62 lead on Uzan’s 3-pointer with 5 minutes to go, then suffocated the Wildcats (22-12) down the stretch to avenge a loss to Iowa State in last year’s title game.
Houston romped to the regular-season Big 12 title, winning 19 of 20 games in the expanded league. And it was just as dominant in three game in Kansas City, easily beating Colorado and No. 17 BYU before turning back red-hot Arizona for the trophy.