Arizona basketball rides wild finish to stun Iowa State

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Teetering in extremes since he was named a preseason all-American last fall, alternatively torrid or frigid from 3-point range in any given game, Caleb Love condensed it all into one memorable night at McKale Center on Monday.

Love missed nine of his first 10 3-point shots during UA’s 86-75 overtime win over No. 3 Iowa State before throwing in a 60-foot buzzer beater to send the game into overtime in a 71-71 tie and then two more 3s to sew it up in overtime.

“Best moment of my life,” Love said.

“Holy s–,” UA coach Tommy Lloyd said.

The moment would have brought McKale Center fans to their feet, but they were already there, standing up for the entire tense late-night ESPN affair.

Predictably, Love’s bomb gave the Wildcats momentum enough to easily put the Cyclones away in overtime after what had been a physical, defensive-minded game that was mostly played within a possession or two throughout.

Iowa State scored first in overtime and also tied the game at 75 with 2:36 left. But Love hit two 3s over the next minute and freshman Carter Bryant followed with another 3 to all but put the game away by giving UA an 84-75 lead with 1:09 left.

“The bomb and those two in overtime? Goodness,” Iowa State coach T.J. Otzelberger said of Love’s heroics. “I mean, after he hits the three-quarter court shot, I’m sure he felt great to make the other ones that presented in overtime.”

Yes, he did.

“You hit a shot like that, you got to win in overtime,” Love said. “There’s no way we losing.”

Love said he felt actually confident throughout the game — “every shot I felt was going in,” he said — and maybe that helped at the end of regulation. Because he didn’t have time to think about building confidence or anything else, for that matter.

Only 2.2 seconds were on the clock in regulation when Anthony Dell’Orso fired an inbounds pass up the left side of the court. Love picked it up on the three-point line, took two dribbles and then launched his shot well in front of the halfcourt line.

The Wildcats were…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/arizona-basketball-rides-wild-finish-143914665.html

Author : AZCentral | The Arizona Republic

Publish date : 2025-01-28 14:39:00

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