No. 2 Arizona clinches outright Big 12 title with 73-57 win over No. 6 Iowa State

Iowa State guard Tamin Lipsey drives past Arizona guard Jaden Bradley (0) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game, Monday, March 2, 2026, in Tucson,Ariz. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)

JOHN MARSHALL | Associated Press

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — Jaden Bradley scored 17 points, Motiejus Krivas added 13 and No. 2 Arizona clinched the outright Big 12 regular-season title with a 73-57 win over No. 6 Iowa State on Monday night.

The Wildcats (28-2, 15-2) secured at least a share of the conference crown by using big runs in each half to beat No. 14 Kansas 84-61 on Saturday.

Arizona earned it outright by smothering Iowa State defensively to give Tommy Lloyd his 140th victory, most in NCAA history in a coach’s first five seasons.

Coming off their first home loss of the season, the Cyclones (24-6, 11-6) labored against Arizona’s physical defense, shooting 29% from the floor, including 7 of 30 from 3-point range.

Tamin Lipsey led Iowa State with 17 points, but leading scorer Milan Momcilovic was held to five on 2-of-8 shooting. The nation’s best 3-point shooter at 51%, he went 1 for 5 from the beyond the arc.

Neither team could make much of anything, due to good defense and missing open shots.

Iowa State shot 9 of 33 from the floor and 4 of 20 from 3 in the first half.

Arizona labored most of the half as the Cyclones collapsed in the paint before the Wildcats closed on a 15-3 run to lead 37-25 at halftime.

It only got worse for Iowa State to start the second half. The Cyclones missed their first eight shots as Arizona stretched the lead to 16.

Iowa State briefly found an offensive rhythm, using a 10-1 run to pull to 44-37, but didn’t hit a field goal for more than five minutes as Arizona stretched the lead back to 15.

Key Performer
Tamin Lipsey kept ISU in the mix, leading the team in scoring. His 17 points were his third-most in Big 12 play this season. Over the last six games, which ISU has played five ranked foes, Lipsey is averaging 12.7 points per game.

Iowa State Notes

Iowa State now has 265 made 3-pointers this season. That is the ninth-most in a single season in ISU history.
Milan Momcilovic has now made the eighth-most 3-pointers in conference competition in Big 12 history (60).
- Momcilovic and Batemon have now made 155 triples this season – the fourth-most by an ISU duo in a season all-time.
Tamin Lipsey has tied Terry Woods for the sixth-most assists in program history with 564.
- Lipsey surpassed 1,400 career points on the night.
- He is also now one board shy of 500.
Joshua Jefferson hauled in his 700th career rebound.
- Jefferson has scored in double figures in 35-straight games, the fourth-longest streak in the country.