Pace City: Arizona learns it's hard to beat Houston at its own game | Michael Lev

Houston is a problem.

The Cougars are the Big 12 Conference’s version of UCLA under Mick Cronin. Every game against them is a grind.

Houston came into Saturday’s matchup vs. Arizona leading the Big 12 despite ranking eighth in scoring and seventh in field goal percentage. The Cougars were first in points allowed and field goal percentage allowed.

It's no secret what their DNA is under Kelvin Sampson. Arizona saw it first-hand in the 2022 NCAA Tournament, when the Cougars upset a No. 1-seeded UA team featuring more top-end talent than this one has.

The high-noon showdown at McKale Center felt a lot like the last game between Arizona and UCLA. The Wildcats were in control until they weren’t.

Arizona built a seven-point lead with 9:10 to play on the last of Caleb Love’s game-high seven assists to a cutting KJ Lewis. Houston then went on a 12-0 run to seize the advantage for good.

The final score was 62-58. Those 58 points were the fourth fewest the Wildcats have scored this season. They’ve lost all four of those games.

Sampson talked extensively after the game about controlling the pace. Houston had no interest in running-and-gunning with Arizona. And the Cougars made sure that didn’t happen.

“We needed to get this game at our pace,” Sampson said. “We talk to our kids in terms of 10-minute intervals. If we can keep them somewhere around 15 points each 10 minutes, it’s usually gonna come out around 60. If it's in the high 50s, low 60s, even mid-60s, we think we have a good chance to win.”

Houston has scored fewer than 70 points eight times this season. The Cougars are 7-1 in those games — with the only loss coming against No. 1 Auburn.

“We play the way we play,” said Sampson, who’s had 11 seasons to put his imprint on the UH program. “How you saw us play is how we play just about every game. We're not always pretty.

“If somebody were to describe our team ... our kids understand what it takes to win. No matter who we're playing, no matter where we're playing.

“They practice the right way. They stay connected. We have no egos. It’s continuing to control the controllables. For us, that's our defense, our effort, our rebounding.”

Arizona held its own in those areas, as it has all season. Houston shot just 43% from the floor. The Wildcats outrebounded the Cougars 39-30.

Houston unquestionably executed better down the stretch, whether that was patiently setting up good shots or knocking down free throws.

Arizona missed four foul shots in the final 5:01 of a game it lost by four points. Entering Saturday, Houston ranked first in the Big 12 and 10th nationally in opponent’s free throw percentage — which seems like a completely irrelevant, nonsensical statistic, right? No one guards you at the line. They call them free throws for a reason.

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But maybe there’s something to this. Houston makes you work for every shot. The Cougars aggressively double-team in almost every pick-and-roll situation. It’s reasonable to wonder if their grind-it-out style has a cumulative effect over the course of a game, leading to fatigue — and to missed foul shots.

Houston ranked 11th nationally in opponent’s free throw percentage last season.

“We emphasize so much the last 30 minutes of practice in October,” Sampson said. “A lot of guys wear down as practice goes on because they're allowed to. Our last 30 minutes of practice is no different to me than our first 30 minutes.

"Accountability is an important thing in a program. There's not a lot of discussion when it comes down to how hard we play, how hard we compete.”

It’s also reasonable to wonder if some of Arizona’s best players are playing too many minutes.

Jaden Bradley was averaging 37.2 minutes per game in Big 12 play entering Saturday — and hit his average against Houston. Love was averaging 36.4 and played 38.

Bradley’s four points were his fewest in a Big 12 game. He made only 1 of 6 shots.

Love had a team-high 17 points. His seven assists matched his season high. His five turnovers were also a season high.

Tommy Lloyd has always advocated for Conrad Martinez but doesn’t seem to trust him enough to play him in games like this, even for a few minutes to give Bradley a break. Lloyd also doesn’t seem to trust the defensively deficient Anthony Dell’Orso to play in crunch-time moments. He’s played less than 20 minutes in six of the past eight games despite knocking down shots when he’s on the floor.

“We're playing guys a lot of minutes,” Lloyd conceded. “We could have got worn down a little bit. They could have been worn down a little bit. Those are hard-fought games. Those are battles.

“We're at where we're at. We're putting players out there that we think give us the best chance to be successful, to win the game. Maybe they're a little bit tired. But I know this: If you want something bad enough, there's always something left in the tank.”

Houston being the bully of the Big 12 isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Arizona needs a foil beyond ASU. UCLA played that role before the Pac-12 disintegrated. The Cougars even wore black for the occasion.

There’s no shame in losing to the sixth-ranked team in the country — No. 3 in the KenPom ratings — whose only regulation loss is the aforementioned setback against Auburn.

But it isn’t difficult to envision Arizona carrying a three-game losing streak into its next home game next Saturday against BYU.

The UA visits Baylor on Monday night. The Bears are a fringe Top 25 team. They’re 12-1 at home. They’ll have revenge on their minds after losing 81-70 at McKale on Jan. 15.

Like its best team, the Big 12 is unrelenting.

Photos: Houston wins 62-58 over Arizona at McKale Center, Big 12 men's basketball