March 2, 2026; Tucson, Arizona, USA; Arizona Wildcats guard Jaden Bradley (0) shoots at Iowa State Cyclones guard Tamin Lipsey (3) during the first half of a game at McKale Memorial Center. Mandatory Credit: Aryanna Frank-Imagn Images Arizona State and Iowa State are two of the best teams in the country. It’s no surprise that the postseason “Final Four” draws them into key matchups.
This is not the Final Four either program wants to reach. The top-seeded Wildcats and No. 5 Cyclones clash in the Big 12 semifinals Friday night for a berth in the tournament championship game.
Arizona is projected to be a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. A win over Iowa State would probably give them an unofficial seal.
Wildcats coach Tommy Lloyd refuses to be caught looking that far ahead. He wants to end the grueling search for conference tournament brackets.
“It’s a monster. It’s a monster,” Lloyd said of the Big 12 conference tournament. “We’ve been doing this for two years. Every game is hard. There’s no easy game.”
The Wildcats (30-2), ranked second in the Top 25, won their seventh straight game after defeating eighth-seeded UCF 81-59 in the quarterfinals on Thursday. Iowa State (27-6) also won by 22 points as the seventh-ranked Cyclones earned their third straight win, beating fourth-seeded Texas Tech 75-53.
The two teams met once in the regular season, with Arizona winning 73-57 at home on March 2.
Big 12 Player of the Year Jaden Bradley had 17 points for the Wildcats in the conference. Iowa State, meanwhile, shot just 29.2 percent from the field and 7 of 30 on 3-pointers and were outscored 40-33.
“(It) went down to Tucson not too long ago,” Cyclones coach TJ Otzelberger said. “And that was actually a game where we weren’t clearly within striking distance for most of the second half. We know what a great team they are. I mean, they had the best regular season of any team in the country.”
Lloyd said his coaching staff will study recent wins as they come up with a game plan.
“We’re definitely going to look back on it and see what worked and what didn’t work and see what kind of adjustments we can make,” Lloyd said. “But we have a lot of respect for Iowa State and their program, we have a lot of respect for TJ and what he does, and we have a lot of respect for their players.
“Like I said, we’re looking forward to the challenge. We’re looking forward to the opportunity.”
The Cyclones recorded a 49-point second-round win over Arizona State on Wednesday, winning their first two games by a total of 71 points, setting a record for the largest margin of victory in the Big 12 Tournament.
Joshua Jefferson had double-doubles in both wins and had 18 points, 13 rebounds and six assists in the win over Texas Tech when Iowa State had a 39-29 rebounding edge.
“The battle for rebounds is the most important thing on the court,” Jefferson said. “I think if we do that to the highest level, we can win.”
Tamin Lipsey hit four 3-pointers and scored 20 points against the Red Raiders. He said he wasn’t fazed when Texas Tech got hot and took a 17-5 lead.
“You know it’s a long game, it’s a 40-minute game,” Lipsey said. “They came right out and made some shots, but we knew we were going to hit some shots down the road. We continued to play defense and hit some shots.”
Arizona also showed great heat early in the game, leading 35-8 with 7 minutes and 38 seconds left in the first half.
Brayden Burries scored 21 points to lead the Wildcats as they advance.
“The goal of this tournament is to get to the next tournament, and that’s mission accomplished,” Lloyd said.
–Field level media
