Jaden Bradley Buzzer-Beater Lifts Arizona Over Iowa State, Salvages Big 12 Tourney

KANSAS CITY — Substantial 12 commissioner Brett Yormark made a significant decision late Thursday night that sparked widespread reaction, though not all of it positive.

Less than 24 hours later, Yormark was rewarded with a thrilling display of college basketball.

Despite the hype and promotion surrounding the Big 12’s LED glass floor, the league and its commissioner faced routine criticism after sporadic slippage and one legitimate injury impacted gameplay through the first three days of the men’s tournament.

Yormark ultimately decided to revert to a traditional hardwood court, a move he described as prioritizing the focus on the teams competing. “We have a tremendous final four tomorrow night,” he said. “That should be the story.”

Instead of a story *about* the court, the Big 12 and college basketball were treated to an instant classic in Friday night’s opening semifinal between No. 1 Arizona, and No. 5 Iowa State. The Wildcats’ buzzer-beating 82-80 win was arguably the best game of the season. Arizona senior and Big 12 Player of the Year Jaden Bradley hit a fallaway 17-footer from the wing at the buzzer over an immaculate defensive effort from Cyclones freshman Killyan Toure. When the ball swished, the shot and the game effectively overshadowed the previous days’ discussion about the court.

“It was a crazy shot,” Bradley said. “It was great defense.”

This is how you shift the narrative.

Adding to the excitement was the lack of timeouts called in the final frantic minutes, particularly during crucial possessions. Arizona’s Tommy Lloyd had multiple timeouts remaining and chose not to leverage them.

“It set the stage for something epic to happen,” Lloyd told CBS Sports after the game. “In those games, you sense like Will Ferrell in Old School, where he gets up there and he’s doing the political argument against like James Carver, or something like that, and he kind of blacks out.”

Lloyd’s description was apt. The game was a whirlwind of dramatic moments, with big shots coming at a pace that was hard to fully absorb.

Bradley being the hero was fitting. BYU superstar AJ Dybantsa led the nation in scoring, but the league’s coaches voted for Bradley as the best player on the best team. “I thought it was pretty tough for him the last couple days to win an award like that,” Lloyd said. “He’s not a guy that tries to capture up any extra space in the room. He’s not about individual things at all. And then for him to come out and put a stamp on it, and a game like this, I think, is really cool.”

The frenzied finish was a work of art. Arizona and Iowa State combined to create a shot on their final 11 possessions, including seven consecutive 3-pointers. Arizona finished with 1.24 points per possession, whereas Iowa State managed 1.21.

“It’s like shooting in the ocean, you feel like you can’t miss,” Arizona’s Anthony Dell’Orso said.

“I think it’s an amazing feeling,” Iowa State All-American Joshua Jefferson said of playing in such a high-stakes, captivating game.

The game could have easily gone the other way. “They were able to make one more play tonight,” Iowa State coach TJ Otzelberger said. “Just like they’re Final Four contenders, so are we.”

The Cyclones started strong, opening with a 14-2 run and closing the first half with a 9-0 flurry fueled by three 3-pointers from senior forward Milan Momcilovic.

“Larry Bird showed up,” Lloyd said. “Thank God, the half ran out.”

Momcilovic sank eight 3-pointers, becoming just the fourth player in Big 12 Tournament history to achieve that feat in a single game.

“Great player, crazy shooter,” said Bradley.

Momcilovic’s 28 points were a game-high, just two more than Arizona’s Dell’Orso, who had a career-best 26 points (including six 3s) after combining for 23 in his previous four games.

“You enter into that kind of flow state,” Dell’Orso said. “And guys just brought everything. There were multiple facets of the game other than just shooting that go unnoticed, but we definitely pay attention to that.”

Everything culminated in Bradley’s buzzer-beater, the first by a Big 12 player in any game since 2022 and the first winning shot as time expired in this tournament since 2015.

“They really made us dig deep literally 40 minutes. We were just trying to hang on by a thread, stay in the game,” Lloyd said.

The game was a reminder of why March Madness is so captivating. It was also Arizona’s ninth win this season over a ranked team, the second-most in college basketball history.

The result won’t impact Arizona’s No. 1 seed in the West Region or Iowa State’s likely No. 2 seed. But the Big 12 needed this. Until Friday night, the tournament was trending toward being remembered for a controversial court.

Lloyd made sure to credit Yormark and the Big 12’s vice president of basketball, Brian Thornton, for their willingness to revert to a traditional court. Lloyd and Kelvin Sampson were particularly supportive of the change.

“Shows a lot of courage and great leadership,” Lloyd said. “I mean, on two levels. The foresight and the fortitude to try something outside the box and then have it not work and pull it back. It’s pretty special. The Big 12 makes basketball a priority and and that’s pretty special to be a part of. I don’t know if every power conference can say that, but we definitely can say that with our leadership.”

Arizona will play in a second straight league championship game, a rematch against Houston, who defeated Kansas 69-47. Arizona defeated Houston 73-66 in February.

The stakes are clear. And as Friday night demonstrated, the Big 12 is more than capable of letting the game speak for itself. Sometimes, it delivers a masterpiece.