Top-seeded Houston knocked off No. 2-seeded Arizona 72-64 in a hotly-contested battle of a Big 12 Tournament Championship, ending the game on a 6-0 run after Caleb Love hit free throws to pull Arizona within two.

The Cougars picked up their first Big 12 Tournament Championship in their second season in the conference, notching an elusive tournament championship this year after winning the regular season both times.

With Houston (30-4, 19-1) solidifying its projection as a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, Arizona (22-12, 14-6) will wait for Selection Sunday to know its seeding fate in the Big Dance, likely a 4-seed, according to BracketMatrix.

Milos Uzan, who was lethal with a career-high 25 points along with four assists and no turnovers, hit a 3 to give Houston a nine-point lead with 10:15 remaining. Arizona took the lead with a 12-2 run before Uzan took the lead back on a 3 out of a timeout.

Love was quiet in the second half (when he scored five of his 19 points) but gave Arizona a chance off free throws to make it a two-point game with 1:37 left. He appeared to lose his footing on the next possession when he was called for a travel, and Ja’Vier Francis made it a four-point game with 42.5 seconds left coming down the other way.

Jaden Bradley (14 points and four turnovers) coughed it up on a double-dribble loose ball with 31.3 seconds remaining which all but sealed the win for Houston. Love airballed a 3 with 10 seconds left as the deficit was six.

“We gotta own those two turnovers we had in the clutch,” Love told reporters postgame. “Coach put a lot of confidence into us and a lot of responsibility, putting the ball in our hands in those moments and we gotta deliver.”

Caleb Love leads Arizona surge to end first half in Big 12 Tournament Championship

Houston set the tone right off the tip with Emmanuel Sharp’s 3 to open the game serving as more of a tease of offense than anything else, as it took 14 minutes for either side to hit the 20-point mark. The teams combined to make just two of their next 20 shot attempts over a nearly seven-minute stretch.

After Arizona started 3-for-16 from the field and the Cougars built up an eight-point lead for their largest of the game to that point, however, Caleb Love and the Wildcats’ offense settled in to end the half on a 22-9 run.

Love scored 11 of the run’s points on 5-for-8 shooting to weather a 1-for-5 start over the game’s first nine minutes. He missed a floater just before the halftime buzzer that would’ve given Arizona a five-point lead, but Henri Veesaar was there for the putback to make it 33-28.

Love started the second half with a turnover and Houston made five of its first six shots as it took back the lead. After the Wildcats tied it back up at 44 with 13:58 remaining, the Cougars rattled off four quick makes for a double-digit lead before Arizona’s next made shot at 11:19 left made it 56-48.