No. 2 Arizona’s Jaden Bradley stuns No. 7 Iowa State with a buzzer-beater to reach Big 12 final

Arizona’s Jaden Bradley (0) heads to the basket during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against Iowa State in the semifinal round of the Big 12 Conference tournament Friday, March 13, 2026 (AP Photo/Charlie Reidel_

DAVE SKRETTA | Associated Press

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Arizona’s Jaden Bradley answered a tying 3-pointer by Iowa State guard Tamin Lipsey with a fall-away jumper at the buzzer, sending the second-ranked Wildcats to an 82-80 victory over the No. 7 Cyclones in the Big 12 Tournament semifinals Friday night.

Bradley finished with 15 points, and Anthony Dell’Orso matched a career-best with six 3-pointers and scored 26 for the tournament’s top seed. The Wildcats (31-2) will play Houston, which beat them in the final a year ago, for the title on Saturday night.

Ivan Kharchenkov also had 17 points for Arizona. Tobe Awaka added 10 points and 10 rebounds.

It looked as if the game was headed to overtime after Lipsey, who had been 1 for 10 from the field, drilled a 3-pointer from the wing with 15.2 seconds to go. Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd chose not to call a timeout and Bradley calmly walked the ball up the floor, then drove to his right and hit the winner before his teammates jumped from the bench on top of him.

Milan Momcilovic matched a career-high eight 3-pointers and scored 28 points for the No. 5 seed Cyclones (27-7). All-Big 12 forward Joshua Jefferson had 21 points, Killyan Toure added 12 and Lipsey finished with eight points and seven assists.

The Wildcats were able to weather a 14-5 run by Iowa State to start the game, and even pulled 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 Momcilovic hit a trio of 3-pointers over the final 1:23, including a buzzer-beater after an Arizona turnover with a couple seconds on the clock.

That was just the start of the fireworks between two teams capable of winning the national championship.

They traded blows throughout the second half, and at one point, Dell’Orso and Momcilovic traded 3-pointers on four consecutive trips down the floor, sending a Big 12 Tournament single-session record crowd of 19,450 into a frenzy.

That was nothing compared to the eruption when Bradley hit the bucket that sent Arizona to its second straight title game.

Iowa State Key Performer
Killyan Toure picked a great time to get his groove back, as the rookie Frenchman scored in double figures for the first time since February 1st, knocking down two triples in the process. Toure also provided excellent on-ball defense, guarding Arizona’s guards as well as you could draw up.

Iowa State Notes

As a team, Iowa State now has 305 steals on the year. That’s the fifth-most in a single season in school history.
ISU now has 307 triples on the year. That’s the third-most 3-pointers in a season in school history.
Joshua Jefferson scored 10-plus points for the 34^th time this season and for the 40^th-straight game.
- Jefferson now has 167 assists this season, tying Jacy Holloway for the 19^th-most in a single season in school history.
Tamin Lipsey is now up to 68 steals this season, matching his mark from last year.
- Lipsey finished his Big 12 Tournament career with 101 points scored in nine games. His 15 threes in KC are the third-most in program history.
- Lipsey tied Monté Morris with 42 career assists in the Big 12 Tournament. Morris had 42 in 10 games, Lipsey did so in nine.
Milan Momcilovic has now hit a 3-pointer in 19-conescutive games.
- He has 127 threes on the year – the second-most in a single Big 12 season in conference history.
- Momcilovic passed Loren Meyer for the 22^nd-most points in program history, surpassing 1,300 career points.
- Momcilovic went over 250 career triples.
- Momcilovic now has 120 career points at the Big 12 Tournament – the third-most in ISU history.
- Momcilovic’s 13 threes in this Big 12 Tournament are the most in a single tournament by an ISU player.
Blake Buchanan played in his 100^th career game.