Houston, thee was a problem. And barring some craziness over the final few weeks of the regular season may have locked up the Big 12 title.

The 6th-ranked Cougars rallied from a 5-point halftime deficit to beat No. 13 Arizona 62-58 on Saturday afternoon at McKale Center. It was the second consecutive loss for the Wildcats (17-8, 11-3) after going 77 straight league games without back-to-back setbacks, the longest active streak in the country.

Houston improved to 7-0 on the road in Big 12 play by shooting 50 percent in the second half and keeping Arizona from taking advantage of a sizable rebound advantage. The UA won that battle 39-30 and had 11 offensive boards but only scored once on a second chance opportunity.

The Wildcats shot 36.4 percent overall and were 5 of 23 from 3, going 1 of 9 from outside in the second half after a 2 for 22 showing in Tuesday’s loss at Kansas State.

Caleb Love led the UA with 17 points, adding seven assists, but while he was 5 of 7 on 2-pointers he missed 7 of 8 from 3 after going 0 for 6 at K-State. KJ Lewis was Arizona’s only other player in double figures, with 13, while the Wildcats’ other four starters combined for 12 points on 4-of-14 shooting with Tobe Awaka held scoreless.

The UA was better with the ball than last time out, turning it over 11 times compared to 17, but Houston still capitalized with 13 points.

Milos Uzan had 19 points on 8-of-12 shooting with 13 in the second half for Houston, which became only the second team to beat Tommy Lloyd twice in a row.

Arizona led 30-25 at halftime, but within three minutes Houston had tied it up. The Wildcats weathered that early storm to take multiple 2-score leads, including one at 40-36 with 13:43 left on a transition dunk by Henri Veesaar off a lob from Love.

The Cougars cut it to one twice before Arizona ran off six in a row in 72 seconds to lead 48-41 with 9:08 to go. The UA went 4:09 without scoring after that, though, and Houston scored 12 in a row for its first lead since 8-7, going up on a 3 by LJ Cryer with 5:57 remaining and extending to a 53-48 lead on another Cryer triple.

The Wildcats didn’t make a field goal for more than six minutes, before Veesaar scored inside to get the UA within 57-52 with 2:52 left. Complicating matters were four missed free throws in seven attempts after starting 10-10.

Houston’s uncharacteristic sloppiness got Arizona back into it, though, with back-to-back turnovers leading to four UA points including a corner 3 by Carter Bryant to cut it to 57-56 with 1:39 to go. Bryant’s putback with 57 seconds left, Arizona’s only second-chance points, kept it a 1-point game, but Houston made 3 of 4 free throws down the stretch while the UA missed both 3-point attempts and turned it over once more.

The McKale crowd got an early taste of how stout Houston’s defense is when it forced Arizona into a shot clock violation on the game’s opening possession. The UA missed its first three shots before making three in a row, including a 3-pointer by Anthony Dell’Orso that was his first triple in six games since hitting six against Colorado.

Both teams had scoring droughts of more than four minutes during the first 11 minutes of play, with Houston using the UA’s to take an 8-7 lead and then the Wildcats following with a 6-0 run to retake the lead and hold it the rest of the half.

Arizona held the Cougars to one field goal in nearly seven minutes, going up 19-10 with 7:25 left in the first half, but then back-to-back UA turnovers led to five quick Houston points. That started a stretch where the Coogs made six of nine shots, after starting 4 of 18 from the field, to get within 27-25 on a J’Wan Roberts 3-point play in the final minute before halftime.

A 3 by Bryant put Arizona up five at the break, the most Houston had trailed at halftime since being down seven at Kansas (a game it won in double overtime) on Jan. 25.

It’s a very quick turnaround for the Wildcats, who visit Baylor on Monday night. Arizona beat the Bears 81-70 at home on Jan. 14.