Jaden Bradley’s buzzer-beater sends Arizona to Big 12 final: ‘Stuff you dream about’

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Jaden Bradley wasn’t sure the shot was good when it left his hand, didn’t see it go through the net as the backboard lit up red, but he knew once he found himself at the bottom of a dogpile.

“That’s stuff you dream about in the backyard,” Bradley said, “counting down, hitting the shot.”

And then…

“It was hard to breathe.”

With the first buzzer-beater of his four-year college career, Bradley put No. 2 Arizona in the Big 12 championship game and gave Arizona a 82-80 win over No. 7 Iowa State in one of the greatest games of the season.

The two teams combined to make 11 of their final 13 shots, each one more spectacular than the next.

JADEN BRADLEY. GAME WINNER. CATS TO THE ‘SHIP.#Big12MBB | 📺 ESPN pic.twitter.com/a9WOAJb9ju

— Big 12 Conference (@Big12Conference) March 14, 2026

It started with Arizona Ivan Kharchenkov making a turnaround in the lane to put Arizona ahead by 5. Then Iowa State’s Milan Momcilovic answered with a 3. Arizona’s Anthony Dell’Orso answered his answer with a 3, then another Momcilovic 3, then another Dell’Orso 3.

“JB kept finding me,” said Dell’Orso, who finished with 26 points and six 3s. “I felt like I was open every possession.”

Following his 3, which put Arizona ahead by 5, Iowa State answered with another 3 — this one by Joshua Jefferson.

That’s back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back 3s.

Finally, Bradley missed a layup, but Arizona still scored when Tobe Awaka dunked in the miss. And on the other end, Arizona’s Motiejus Krivas blocked Tamin Lipsey’s layup out of bounds, and the Cyclones ran a play for Momcilovic, who, of course, buried another 3.

Two of the top five defenses in college basketball and not one stop in the final 4:09 by either side.

No one could miss. Even Tamin Lipsey, who was 1-of-10 from the field going into Iowa State’s final possession, buried a 3 to tie the game and set up Bradley’s theatrics.

Arizona’s program regularly uses the acronym FIO — figure it out, and coach Tommy Lloyd decided to live by those words on the final possession. At the end of the first half, with 24 seconds left and the game tied, Lloyd had called timeout. Iowa State’s TJ Otzelberger set up a trap and Blake Buchanan stole the ball from Brayden Burries and found Momcilovic for a 3. Dell’Orso then traveled with 2.8 seconds left, giving Momcilovic another chance at a running 3-pointer at the buzzer, which he buried to put the Cyclones up 6 at half.

Instead of allowing Otzelberger to come up with another tricky defensive maneuver, Lloyd trusted Bradley to figure it out.

“We practice a lot of figure-it-out situations,” Lloyd said. “And the players gotta kind of, in the moment, figure out the right plays to make with the right fundamentals. And when they do that, when they’re figuring things out, complicated things, we’re our best version of ourselves.”

Bradley has been clutch all season, especially early on this year when the Wildcats found themselves in some close games. Lloyd didn’t call a play on the final sequence and just let Bradley make a decision.

“I’m just trying to get to my spot,” Bradley said. “I had just hit a mid-range previously, so I’m trying to just get a good look. I got a solid look, great contest, but just a tough bucket.”

Lloyd had told his team one other thing on Friday night — celebrate. Iowa State had the home-court advantage with a majority of the crowd; the Wildcats had to generate their own energy.

And with Bradley’s final flick of the wrist, celebrate, they did.