Arizona Clinches Big 12 Title With Win Over Iowa State

Summary:

• No. 2 Arizona Wildcats beat No. 6 Iowa State Cyclones 73-57 to win the Big 12 outright.
• Tommy Lloyd set a record with his 140th win in five seasons.
• Iowa State shot just 29% and struggled from three all night.

No. 2 Arizona Wildcats left no doubt Monday night, pulling away from No. 6 Iowa State Cyclones for a 73-57 win to clinch the 2025-256 Big 12 regular-season title outright. The Wildcats continued what has been a remarkable run under coach Tommy Lloyd.

Jaden Bradley led the way with 17 points, while Motiejus Krivas added 13. Arizona improved to 28-2 overall and 15-2 in conference play, sealing the championship just two days after beating Kansas by 23 to guarantee at least a share of the crown.

This time, they made it official. It was also a milestone night for Lloyd. The victory marked his 140th career win, the most ever by an NCAA coach in his first five seasons.

After the game, Lloyd didn’t downplay what his team had accomplished and addressed the home crowd after the game.

The Big 12 is the best basketball conference in the country and to win it by a couple of games, it’s pretty impressive. So take your hats off to these guys right here.

The Cyclones Couldn’t Find Their Rhythm

Iowa State, coming off its first home loss of the season, never found a rhythm. The Cyclones shot just 29% from the field and went 7-of-30 from three-point range. In the first half alone, they were 9-of-33 overall and 4-of-20 from deep.

Tamin Lipsey scored 17 to lead Iowa State, but top scorer Milan Momcilovic was held to five points on 2-of-8 shooting. Entering the game as the nation’s best three-point shooter at 51%, Momcilovic went just 1-for-5 from beyond the arc.

Both teams struggled to score early, but Arizona created separation late in the first half with a 15-3 run to take a 37-25 lead into the break.

The second half didn’t offer much relief for Iowa State. The Cyclones missed their first eight shots after halftime as Arizona pushed the lead to 16. Iowa State briefly answered with a 10-1 run to cut it to 44-37, but then went more than five minutes without a field goal, and the Wildcats stretched the margin back to 15.

Lloyd also addressed criticism about his team’s physicality.

I think the narrative that we were soft is lazy. I mean, look at our stats, look at our analytics, we’ve always been a great rebounding team, we’ve always pounded the paint