Of the three teams chasing Houston for the Big 12 men’s basketball title, Texas Tech had the easiest path to catch the Cougars.

That path became much more difficult on Tuesday after a stunning 66-63 loss to TCU. The Red Raiders were 7.5-point favorites and had won 9 of their last 10 games — including an 82-81 overtime win over Houston.

But the Horned Frogs pounded Texas Tech on the glass and relentlessly attacked the paint. TCU won the rebounding battle 37-29, drew 17 fouls and shot 22 free throws to just 8 for Texas Tech.

Texas Tech (20-6, 11-4) is now three games behind Houston in the race for the Big 12 championship. Even if the Red Raiders sweep Houston — the rematch is Monday in Lubbock — they now need the Cougars to lose three times to catch them.

Arizona all alone in 2nd place

Texas Tech’s loss leaves the Arizona Wildcats (18-8, 12-3) all alone in second place with five games to play. Arizona is one game ahead of the Red Raiders and Iowa State (21-5, 11-4).

Arizona still has to play at Iowa State and at Kansas — two of the toughest road venues in the Big 12. Even if they manage to go 2-0 in those games — and win the other three — they need Houston to lose twice to earn a “tie” atop the Big 12. The Cougars beat Arizona 62-58 in their only matchup of the season and hold the head-to-head tiebreaker advantage.

While it would be cool to see a Pac-12 team win the Big 12 in its first season, Arizona is focused on bigger goals — namely the NCAA tournament.

Arizona was slotted as a No. 3 seed in the East in the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee’s first top 16 rankings of the season, which were released Saturday morning. And the Wildcats have a great chance to improve on that seed over the next three weeks. With at least two more Quad 1 opportunities left — plus the Big 12 tournament — Tommy Lloyd’s team is in a position to compete for a No. 2 seed in March Madness.

But first, the Wildcats are going to try to catch Houston.

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