Big 12 Player of the Year Jaden Bradley lived up to his accolades, drilling a contested 15-foot jumper on the baseline at the buzzer to give top-seeded Arizona an 82-80 victory over Iowa State on Friday night at Kansas City, Mo.
“Man, that’s a big moment,” Bradley told ESPN shortly after the game. “That’s stuff you do in the backyard. You’re counting down and you make that. I just want to thank God.”
The victory in front of a largely partisan Iowa State crowd at “Hilton South” puts Arizona (31-2) into the Big 12 championship game Saturday at 3 p.m. The Wildcats will play either No. 3 Kansas or No. 2 Houston. The Jayhawks and Cougars played in the other semifinal game Friday night.
Bradley’s buzzer-beater put an exclamation point on one of the more dramatic finishes in Arizona’s history.
THE CLOSER pic.twitter.com/7NZOYt4P34
— Arizona Basketball (@ArizonaMBB) March 14, 2026
Anthony Dell’Orso, Bradley and Tobe Awaka answered shot for shot Iowa State’s Milan Momcilovic, Joshua Jefferson and Tamin Lipsey down the stretch.
Bradley’s heroics at the end was set up by Dell’Orso’s career-high 26 points, including a 6-of-9 performance from beyond the arc.
Momcilovic was 8 of 14 from beyond the arc and finished with 28 points.
“It was a war,” Dell’Orso told ESPN. “We played these guys (two weeks ago at McKale Center), and it was the exact same thing. Credit to them. They’re a great team. They’re super physical and super tough. Our guys just stepped up today and we were able to make some shots.”
Here is the final sequence:
3:42 left — Momcilovic 3-pointer, Arizona led 70-68
3:08 — Dell’Orso 3-pointer, Arizona 73-68
2:45 — Momcilovic 3-pointer, Arizona 73-71
2:23 — Dell’Orso 3-pointer, Arizona 76-71
2:03 — Jefferson 3-pointer, Arizona 76-74
1:40 — Tobe Awaka putback dunk, Arizona 78-74
1:17 — Momcilovic 3-pointer, Arizona 78-77
:45 — Bradley jumper, Arizona 80-77
:15 — Lipsey 3-pointer, Game tied at 80
:00 — After Tommy Lloyd did not use Arizona’s last timeout, allowing Bradley to take over, the senior captain nailed the game-winning jumper over the outstretched arm of Killyan Toure.
Toure also tried to defend Bradley on his made jumper with 45 seconds.
Nothing could stop Arizona, which made 14 of its last 19 shots from the field.
Nobody could stop Dell’Orso, who scored more points Friday than he did in his four previous games.
The Delly Game. pic.twitter.com/t0PNA8sar8
— Arizona Basketball (@ArizonaMBB) March 14, 2026
No one was going to take away Bradley’s chance to come up with his big moment.
“I just went with the flow,” Bradley said of the last play during the postgame press conference. “It was a crazy shot. It was great defense. We just had it going.
“Iowa State is a tough defensive team, so if you call a timeout, they probably get their defense set. It was just a crazy shot, but it was great.”
Lloyd credited the Big 12’s change from a glass LED court used the first three days of the tournament to to a wooden surface for the hot shooting. The change was made because of players slipping, including Texas Tech’s Christian Anderson, who suffered a groin injury.
Iowa State made 7 of 14 shots from beyond the arc in the second half and 14 of 31 overall from that range.
Arizona made 6 of 11 3-point attempts in the second half and 8 of 16 from beyond the arc overall. The Wildcats made 62.1% percent of their shots from the field after halftime and 55.2% overall against one of the best defenses in the nation.
“(Big 12’s leadership) having the courage to try something new (the glass floor), and even the bigger cajones to change it, really made a difference, just getting these guys on a surface they’re comfortable with,” Lloyd said. “The different feel on the court caused them to over-inflate the balls … so it was like tough shooting.
“Sometimes these Wilson balls you play with in the NCAA tournament, they’re over-inflated. It’s really hard to get a good feel for them. It feels like a brick. That’s one of the reasons why a lot of bricks were thrown up. Today, back on the natural surface, they put the ball back to where it’s supposed to be inflated.”
Arizona rallied from a 12-point deficit in the first half to take a 37-34 lead after a 9-0 run that included Brayden Burries scoring his first point at the free-throw line with 3:04 left in the half and Ivan Kharchenkov converting his first shot from the field 16 seconds later.
Burries finished with only three points and did not make a shot in seven attempts from the field. ESPN cameras showed him with a heating pad on his left thigh and calf early in the second half, but he played after that.
Kharchenkov turned it on with 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field with five assists and three rebounds.
The Wildcats went sloppy toward the end of the half and Momcilovic made them pay with a 9-0 run of his own to put Iowa State up 43-37 at halftime.
Arizona committed two turnovers in the last 17 seconds and Momcilovic drilled a 3-pointer after each, including one at the buzzer after Kharchenkov allowed him to dribble by him uncontested.
“He’s a great player; crazy shooter,” Bradley said of Momcilovic. “He’s like 6-7 or 6-8 and can shoot right over the top of you. He’s always moving. They do a good job of screening and getting him open. You just contest it and pray it doesn’t go in.”
Momcilovic had 14 points at halftime and Jefferson 12. Their 26 points combined in the half were more than what they scored the entire game two weeks ago when they were limited to 17 in a 73-57 loss at McKale Center.
Jefferson finished with 21 points and Toure had 12 points. Toure had only two points in Tucson.
Burries and Koa Peat combined for only three points by halftime. They also struggled offensively in the previous matchup with Burries finishing with 11 points and Peat four.
Dell’Orso kept Arizona in the game in the first half with 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the field, 2 of 5 from 3-point range.
Iowa State led by as many as eight points three minutes into the second half, but Arizona managed to keep the game close.
Arizona went on a 10-1 run to forge ahead 64-61 with 9:20 remaining.
Dell’Orso had two 3-pointers in that stretch.
After six unanswered points by Arizona — a time when Lipsey removed himself temporarily for an injury — Momcilovic drilled another 3-pointer.
Dell’Orso responded with a shot beyond the arc, putting Arizona ahead 73-68 with 3:08 left.
“Just staying consistent and staying confident — those are two things that I can keep myself accountable for,” Dell’Orso said. “Doesn’t take any effort. Doesn’t take anything other than mindset.
“And then I rely on these guys (his teammates). Those guys have been there for me all year through all the ups and downs, and they haven’t lost confidence in me.”
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