Kansas City, MO. – in second place Arizona And in seventh place iowa state Shot after shot was exchanged in the Big 12 Tournament semifinals Friday night, and it seemed almost inevitable that whichever team had the ball last would win.
It ended up in the hands of the Wildcats guard. jaden bradley There were only a few seconds left and the score was tied.
He made the inevitable happen.
Bradley moved to his right as Cyclone guard kylian turay He played tough defense, created enough space to drain a jumper from the wing and watched as his teammates swarmed him to lead Arizona to a heartbreaking 82-80 victory.
Wildcats will play houstonWho had defeated them in the finals for the Big 12 title on Saturday night a year ago. The Cougars beat No. 14 kansas 69-47 in the second semi-final.
“It was a great game. An epic battle. And I respect Iowa State a lot,” said Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd, whose team is headed to 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 were a good version of themselves and they really pushed us to go deep.”
The Wildcats (31-2) certainly showed their depth Anthony Dell’Orso Matching a career best with six 3-pointers and scoring 26 points off the bench. Bradley finished with 15, Ivan Kharchenkov had 17 points and tobe awka Added 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Together, they compensated for the off nights the All-Big 12 guard brayden burysJoe was 0-for-7 from the field and had only three points, and was likely a first-round draft pick. koa peatWho finished with four points while turning the ball over four times.
“We have a lot of guys that can start it any night,” Bradley said.
He is one of them.
It seemed like the game was headed to overtime after the Iowa State guard tammin lipseyJoe was 1 of 10 from the field and battling back pain, hit a 3-pointer from the wing with 15.2 seconds remaining. Lloyd decided not to call a timeout and Bradley calmly walked the floor with the ball, moving his teammates where he wanted them as if he were one of the coaches.
Then he went to his right. You went with him. And with enough wind in his shot, it cruised to victory.
“A lot of times we call timeouts late from a defensive standpoint,” Cyclones coach TJ Otzelbarger said. “Look, at the end of the day, Killian protected Bradley as well as you can. Bradley is a winning player, a fierce competitor.”
It was a fitting finale to a dramatic showdown between two teams capable of winning national championships.
milan momsilovic Tied a career high with eight 3-pointers and led the Cyclones (27-7) with 28 points. All-Big 12 forward joshua jefferson He had 21 points, Toure had 12 points and Lipsey had eight points with seven assists.
It was a really intense game, and all credit to him,” Jefferson said. “He just hit a tough shot to end the game.”
The Wildcats were able to withstand a 14–5 run by Iowa State to start the game and even went ahead 37–34 at the end of the first half with a 9–0 run. But the Cyclones regained momentum at halftime when Momsilovic hit a trio of 3-pointers over the final 1:23, including a buzzer-beater after an Arizona turnover with a few seconds on the clock.
The two teams continued to battle during the second half and at one point, Dell’Orso and Momsilovic answered each other’s 3s on four consecutive trips to the floor. Overall, the teams hit 11 of their final 13 shots – seven of which were 3-pointers.
“It was a really fun game,” Momsilovic said. “On the way down it was bucket after bucket.”
The crowd of 19,450 packed inside T-Mobile Center, a single-season record for the Big 12 Tournament, roared with every noise, giving the game the feel of a Final Four matchup before the NCAA Tournament begins next week.
Arizona won. But it was hard to call Iowa State a loser.
“We have a lot of confidence 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 Final Four contenders, so are we. We have big things ahead of us starting next week.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
