Second-ranked Arizona and seventh-ranked Iowa State traded shots in their Big 12 Tournament semifinal Friday night, and it seemed almost inevitable that either team would win the last ball.
It bounced off Wildcats guard Jaden Bradley with seconds left to tie the score.
He made the inevitable happen.
Bradley drove to his right as Cyclones guard Killian Toure guarded him tightly, creating enough space to pull down a jumper from the wing and watch as his teammates covered him to give the Wildcats an 82-80 win.
Arizona will play Houston, who beat them in the finals a year ago, for the Big 12 title on Saturday night. The Cougars defeated No. 14 Kansas 69-47 in the second semifinal.
“It was a great game, an epic battle, and I have a lot of respect for Iowa State,” said Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd, whose team is headed for its second consecutive Big 12 title game. “I thought they played really well today. Their shotmaking was different than when we played them 10 days ago. They’re a good team and a good version of themselves, and they really made us dig deep.”
The Wildcats (31-2) certainly showed their depth as Anthony Dell’Orso matched a career best with six 3-pointers and scored 26 points off the bench. Bradley finished with 15 points, Ivan Kharchenkov had 17 points and Tobey Awaka added 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Together, they were braced for off nights by All-Big 12 guard Brayden Burris, who was 0-for-7 from the field and had just three points, and likely first-round draft pick Koa Peet, who turned the ball over four times and finished with four points.
“We have a lot of guys that can make it happen on any given night,” Bradley said.
He is one of them.
The game appeared to be headed to overtime after Iowa State guard Tamin Lipsey, who was 1-10 from the field and struggling with a groin, hit a 3-pointer from the wing with 15.2 seconds to go. Lloyd chose not to call a timeout, and Bradley calmly walked up the floor with the ball, moving his teammates where he wanted them as if he were one of the coaches.
He drove to his right. Went on tour with him. And with enough air in his shot, it swished for the win.
“A lot of times we’ll call timeouts late from a defensive standpoint,” Cyclones coach TJ Otzelberger said. “Look, at the end of the day, you guard Killian Bradley as perfectly as you can guard him. Bradley is a winning player, a fierce competitor.”
It was a fitting end to a dramatic showdown between two teams capable of winning the national championship.
Milan Momsilovic matched a career high with eight 3-pointers and led the Cyclones (27-7) with 28 points. All-Big 12 forward Joshua Jefferson had 21 points, Torre finished with 12 points, and Lipsey had eight points with seven assists.
“It was a really intense game, and all credit to them,” Jefferson said. “They hit a tough shot to end the game.”
The Wildcats were able to weather a 14-5 run by Iowa State to start the game and went ahead 37-34 with a 9-0 run of their own late in the first half. But the Cyclones took the momentum into halftime when Momsilovich hit a trio of 3-pointers in the final 1:23, including a buzzer-beater after an Arizona turnover with seconds on the clock.
The two teams continued to battle in the second half and at one point Dell’Orso and Momcilovic answered each other’s 3’s on four consecutive floors. In all, the teams have made 11 of their last 13 shots — including seven 3-pointers.
“It was just a really fun game,” Momsilovich said. “Down the stretch, it was bucket after bucket.”
The crowd of 19,450 inside T-Mobile Center, a single-session record for the Big 12 Tournament, roared through every hoop, giving the game the feel of a Final Four matchup before the NCAA Tournament begins next week.
Arizona wins. But it was hard to call Iowa State a loser.
“We have a lot of faith in the guys in our locker room, the work they do every day,” Otzelberger said. “We really respect Arizona and their program, but just as they are a Final Four contender, so are we. We have big things ahead of us starting next week.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
