Going into Tuesday night, Arizona had played the second-easiest Big 12 schedule according to KenPom.com. It hadn’t faced any of the league’s most well-known powers, so maybe the 4-0 start wasn’t as impressive as originally thought.

How about now?

Arizona jumped out to a massive halftime lead on No. 25 Baylor, leading by 23 after 20 minutes and holding on for an 81-70 victory at McKale Center. It was the seventh straight win for the Wildcats (11-5, 5-0 Big 12), third over a ranked opponent, and put them temporarily alone atop the standings with fellow unbeatens Houston and Iowa State set to play Wednesday.

Henri Veesaar had a career-high 19 points, on 9-of-11 shooting, while Jaden Bradley had 13 and four others scored at least eight for the UA, which shot 53.7 percent overall and 50 percent from 3.

Baylor (11-5, 3-2) shot 48.2 percent thanks to a ridiculous 69 percent clip in the second half but its 13 turnovers resulted in 22 points for Arizona. The Wildcats also won the rebounding battle 31-29 and limited the Bears to seven offensive boards and nine second-chance points one game after UCF had 20 and 23, respectively.

Arizona led 42-19 at halftime, the fewest points it had allowed in the first half since giving up 16 to USC in the Pac-12 Tournament last March and the biggest halftime lead over a ranked opponent since being up 23 at USC in 2022. But Baylor, after making only 7 of 27 shots in the first half, started 7 of 9 in the second half.

Arizona opened 7 of 9 itself, including a lob from Bradley to Veesaar, and was up 59-35 with 11:46 left after a 3-point play by KJ Lewis, who had 11 points and seven assists. Then came the sudden backslide that has plagued the Wildcats in every Big 12 game.

Baylor, which needed almost 32 minutes to match Arizona’s first half scoring, couldn’t get closer than 18 until a 7-0 run cut the deficit to 65-49 with 5:55 left. The Wildcats had missed three straight shots, all early in the clock, and the Bears quickly went down and scored after each miss, prompting Tommy Lloyd to call timeout.

Another timeout was needed after Baylor’s VJ Edgecombe jumped in front of Bradley’s crosscourt pass and laid it in to cut it to 69-59 with 3:17 left.

The deficit down to single digits with 2:52 to go and Baylor had multiple chances to get closer but Bryant and Caleb Love blocked shots on drives and the Wildcats went 10 of 12 from the line over the final 2:23.

Baylor’s entire gameplan went out the window 66 seconds into the game when Norchad Omier, its leading scorer and rebounder, picked up two fouls including a charge and had to sit. He had scored on the opening possession and without him the Bears went scoreless for almost five minutes and didn’t make another field goal for 6-plus minutes.

Omier, who was leading the Big 12 in rebounding at 10.6 per game, finished with nine points and a career-low four rebounds.

That allowed Arizona to jump out to a lead and build on it, something Lloyd had called out his team for after the UCF game. The Wildcats got it 13 on back-to-back 3s by Anthony Dell’Orso, the first off a shot by Carter Bryant that was rejected right to him at the top of the key and the second a pullup in transition.

Baylor didn’t get its first offensive rebound until 12:57 left in the first half and didn’t get second-chance points until 7:06 remained before halftime. Arizona, on the other hand, had nine second-chance points in the first half.

The Bears cut it to 25-15 with 5:55 left in the first half on back-to-back drives by Robert Wright III but Arizona responded with 12 in a row, getting seven points from Veesaar and five from Love.

Arizona hits the road for the next two games, starting with a Saturday afternoon visit to Texas Tech. The Red Raiders (12-4, 3-2) have lost both of their Big 12 home games and all three on the road, including 61-57 at Kansas State on Tuesday night.