In the aftermath of a hardfought home loss to Big 12 leader Houston, the second in a row for Arizona, coach Tommy Lloyd declared that everyone expected his team to “get our asses kicked at Baylor” two days later. And depending on which Twitter thread or comment section you read, a lot of people agreed with him.

Reverse psychology, anyone?

Arizona led for the final 26-plus minutes, holding at least a 2-score edge the entire second half, in a 74-67 win at Baylor on Monday night. The victory snapped a 2-game skid for the 19^th-ranked Wildcats (18-8, 12-3 Big 12) and completed a season sweep of the Bears (16-10, 8-7).

Tobe Awaka had 14 points and 12 rebounds for his sixth double-double of the season, Caleb Love and Henri Veesaar had 13 points each (with Veesaar doing so in his first career start) and Anthony Dell’Orso added 11 for the UA, which shot 48.3 percent including 60 percent on 2-pointers. The Wildcats were 4 of 18 from 3, missing all nine in the second half to continue their perimeter shooting woes, but held Baylor to 5 of 22 from outside and 40 percent overall while winning the rebounding battle 39-31.

Freshman VJ Edgecombe had 24 points for Baylor, with Norchad Omier going for 15 and 13, but guard Robert Wright III was scoreless after having 17 in Tucson last month.

The UA led 41-33 at the break thanks to 58.1 percent shooting that included 15 assists on 18 made field goals. Baylor had a chance to build momentum thanks to a 4-point swing late in the first half after Arizona missed a lob and Edgecombe had a poster dunk in the final seconds, but instead it went the first 7-plus minutes without a field goal.

The Wildcats didn’t do much better, starting 1 of 8, yet managed to build a 49-35 lead.

Baylor hung around by getting to the bonus with 12:59 left, and along the way Jaden Bradley picked up his fourth foul and had to sit nearly eight minutes. A 12-2 run got the Bears within 55-51 with 7:39 to go as Arizona went more than three minutes without scoring before Veesaar hit a pair of free throws.

Shortly after was a critical sequence for Arizona that saw Love score on a hook shot in the paint late in the shot clock, then the Wildcats force a shot clock violation on the other end and convert that takeaway into points for a 61-52 edge with 5:45 to go.

Baylor cut it to four with 4:03 remaining and had a chance to make it a 1-score game with under 90 seconds left but Veesaar secured a defensive rebound in a crowd and was fouled. He made the first free throw before missing the second, but the ball went out on Baylor and he was later fouled again and made 1 of 2 for a 67-61 lead with 1:18 left.

Arizona ended up going 9 of 12 from the line in the final 81 seconds to ice the game after being at a 21-6 free throw disadvantage at one point.

Arizona made six of its first 11 shots to start the game, including 5 of 8 from 2, attacking Baylor’s zone with drives and floaters. That helped build a 13-8 lead about six minutes in.

But then the Wildcats started to get sloppy, turning it over four times in 3:25 to keep from extending their lead. Baylor also began to crash the offensive glass to scored on three straight second chances to go up 20-19 with 8:42 left in the first half.

A 7-0 run put Arizona back up by four, and later a run of seven straight made field goals capped by a Love corner 3 gave the UA a 41-31 lead in the final minute before halftime.

Arizona is home for the next two games, hosting BYU on Saturday before facing Utah for the first time on Feb. 26.