Caleb Love lifts Arizona past No. 3 Iowa State in OT with wild half-court buzzer-beater
Caleb Love stunned the Cyclones on Monday night.
The Wildcats star not only hit a pair of back-to-back 3-pointers in overtime that finally put No. 3 Iowa State away, but he drained a ridiculous desperation buzzer-beater from well beyond the half-court line to even force the extra period. Thanks to his heroics, Arizona grabbed a massive 86-75 upset win over the Cyclones at the McKale Memorial Center.
“You’re just trying to hang in there and give yourself a chance,” Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd said, via Cyclone Fanatic’s Chris Williams. “A desperation three is probably not the chance you’re trying to give yourself, but it made for great theater … It was a great moment for Arizona basketball, and we’re gonna celebrate that. Our guys deserve it, it hasn’t been an easy year but we’re trending in the right direction.”
Iowa State pushed ahead late in the matchup on Monday and seemed well on its way to a win, which would’ve pushed it to 18-2 on the year and kept it in line with No. 6 Houston at the top of the Big 12 race. After a pair of made free throws with just 2.2 seconds on the clock, Love caught an inbounds pass and pushed it up the court for one last attempt.
Remarkably, his shot was perfect. He wasn’t even at the Arizona logo when he threw it up.
“I don’t know what the odds are of that shot going in. Probably not real high,” Iowa State coach T.J. Otzelberger said, via Williams. “The odds in that situation would probably say that you are probably better off to not foul and defend.”
Love didn’t quit there, either. He hit a pair of back-to-back 3-pointers in overtime to help power what ended up being a 15-4 run in the extra period. His buzzer-beater seemed to take everything out of Iowa State.
Arizona powered ahead to grab the 11-point win, which is by far its biggest of the season. That moved them to 14-6 and 8-1 in Big 12 play.
Tamin Lipsey led Iowa State with 18 points, 14 of which came in the first half. Keshon Gilbert added 17 points, and Dishon Jackson finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds. The Cyclones, who went on a 12-game win streak earlier this season and climbed as high as No. 2 in the national ranking, have now lost two of their last four. They’ll host Kansas State next on Saturday before traveling to No. 11 Kansas next week.
Love, who transferred into Arizona after spending his first three seasons at North Carolina, entered Monday’s game averaging 15.3 points and 4.5 rebounds per game this season. He finished with 22 points after shooting just 4-of-14 from behind the arc. Tobe Awaka finished 17 points and 12 rebounds, and both Carter Bryant and KJ Lewis added 14 points off the bench.
The Wildcats seem to have largely recovered after suffering several bad losses early in the year, where they dropped five of their first nine. They’ve lost just once in Big 12 play and now sit half of a game back from the Cougars in the conference standings.
Even though it took what could easily be one of the best shots of the season to do so, Arizona is clearly back on track.
