One championship down, a couple more to go.
No. 2 Arizona locked up its first Big 12 Conference regular season title with a 73-57 win over No. 6 Iowa State on Monday night at McKale Center at ALKEME Arena. The Wildcats (28-2, 15-2) also earned their 10th victory of the year against a ranked opponent, most by a Big 12 school in the regular season.
And Tommy Lloyd picked up his 140th victory, breaking Brad Stevens’ record for most wins by a Division I head coach in their first five seasons.
Jaden Bradley
scored 17 points, going 9 of 11 from the line as Arizona made 23 of 26 free throws, a game after going 30 for 24. Motiejus Krivas scored 13, Tobe Awaka had 10 points and 15 rebounds and Brayden Burries added 11 as the UA shot 54.5 percent in the second half and 45.8 percent overall.
Iowa State (24-6, 11-6) got 17 points from Tamin Lipsey and 14 from Jamarion Batemon but top scorers Milan Momcilovic and Joshua Jefferson were both shut down by the Arizona defense. Momcilovic, the Division I leader in 3-point shooting at 50.9 percent, was 1 of 5 and scored five points while Jefferson had 12 points on 2-of-17 shooting.
The Cyclones shot a season-low 29.2 percent, going 7 of 30 from 3. And despite grabbing 15 offensive rebounds and taking 17 more shots than Arizona, ISU only scored five second-chance points and the Wildcats finished plus-7 on the boards.
The UA led 37-25 at halftime, holding Iowa State to 27.3 percent shooting including 4 of 20 from 3-point range. The Cyclones started the second half as cold from the field as they did in the first, missing their eight seven shots including five on one possession, allowing the Wildcats to build a 16-point lead.
Iowa State woke up after that, using a 10-1 run to get within 44-37 only to see Arizona score the next seven—five byKrivas, including a 3—while Jefferson picked up his fourth foul. A 3 by Dwayne Aristode put the Wildcats back up 54-39 with 9:50 remaining.
Arizona’s next two baskets were dunks, a putback by Aristode and a lob from Bradley to Koa Peat, then four straight Awaka free throws built the lead to 17.
The remainder of the game was spent watching UA players narrowly avoid injury, with Burries getting raked across the face by Lipsey (resulting in a swollen eye) and Awaka getting knocked to the ground collecting an offensive rebound. Neither play resulted in an upgrade to a flagrant foul but the Wildcats still made the resulting free throws, extending the lead.
It took more than two minutes for scoring to happen, despite both teams missing chances at the rim. Burries broke the drought with a 3-pointer, then Iowa State got on the board after missing its first six shots including three from outside. ISU started the game 4 of 22 before making four of five shots.
Burries appeared to roll an ankle and had to go to the locker room with 16:37 left in the first half but returned about five minutes later and hit a layup to put the UA up 16-10.
The Cyclones had eight offensive rebounds in the first eight minutes but only five points to show for it, while Arizona turned ISU’s first five turnovers into 10 points. The UA made just enough shots, including at the line, to keep the lead untilBatemon hit a 3 to tie it at 22 with 4:02 to go before halftime.
Arizona would then finish the half on a 15-3 run, outscoring the Wildcats 9-0 over the final two minutes, and along the way drew the second foul onLipsey and third on Jefferson.
The UA wraps up the regular season Saturday at Colorado, a game that will tip at 9 p.m. MT. The Buffaloes (16-13, 6-10) are at Utah on Tuesday night.
