Jaden Bradley sank an 18-foot jumper as time expired to give top-seeded Arizona a dramatic 82-80 victory over fifth-seeded Iowa State on Friday night in Kansas City, Mo., sending the Wildcats to the Big 12 tournament title game.
Anthony Dell’Orso matched his career best of six 3-pointers and scored 26 points for the second-ranked Wildcats (31-2), who will face second-seeded and fifth-ranked Houston or third-seeded and 14th-ranked Kansas in Saturday’s conference title game. The latter two teams play Friday night.
Ivan Kharchenkov scored 17 points and Bradley had 15 points and seven assists as Arizona won its eighth straight game.
Iowa State’s Tamin Lipsey drained a 3-pointer to tie the game at 80 with 15.2 seconds left.
Bradley was guarded by Iowa State’s Killyan Toure on the final play and got separation to his right before lofting a high-arching shot over Toure that swished through the hoop.
Milan Momcilovic equaled his high of eight 3-pointers and scored 28 points for the seventh-ranked Cyclones (27-7), who are 0-2 against Arizona this season.
Joshua Jefferson scored 21 points and Toure had 12 for Iowa State, which shot 47% and was 14 of 31 (45.2%) from behind the arc.
Tobe Awaka added 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Wildcats, who shot 55.2% from the field and made 8 of 16 from 3-point range.
Toure scored five straight Iowa State points as the Cyclones built a 60-54 lead with 11:52 remaining in the contest.
Arizona answered with eight consecutive points on Awaka’s inside basket and two treys by Dell’Orso for a 62-60 edge with 10:16 to play.
The Wildcats led 68-65 on Bradley’s basket with 5:33 remaining, and Kharchenkov’s jumper made it a five-point lead with 4:09 to go.
Momcilovic’s trey brought the Cyclones within 78-77 with 1:17 left before Bradley’s basket with 46.1 seconds remaining pushed Arizona ahead by three.
Momcilovic drained three consecutive 3-pointers to end the first half and give the Cyclones a 43-37 halftime lead. The last two came in the final 12 seconds, including one as time expired.
The flurry capped a 14-point first half for Momcilovic. Iowa State also received 12 points from Jefferson over the first 20 minutes. Dell’Orso scored 12 in the half for the Wildcats.
Iowa State started fast and Jefferson’s trey gave the Cyclones a 14-2 lead just four-plus minutes into the contest.
Awaka’s layup with 2:04 left in the half gave the Wildcats their first lead at 35-34, and Koa Peat’s basket 30 seconds later capped a 9-0 run.
–Field Level Media
