Caleb Love made a shot from just beyond half court to force overtime and scored eight points in the extra session as Arizona earned an improbable 86-75 win over third-ranked Iowa State on Tuesday night. Love led Arizona with 22 points and Tobe Awaka had 17 points and 12 rebounds in the win.
The game had the feel of an NCAA regional game. Arizona had a chance to send the game to overtime after Iowa State forward Joshua Jefferson missed the first free throw and made the second with two seconds remaining. Love took the inbounds, made a few dribbles and launched one of the biggest shots in Arizona history.
Arizona seemed to take control of the game with a 16-0 run in the first half, putting the Wildcats in front 34-25 with 1:05 remaining. Iowa State answered with the last five points of the first half to cut the halftime deficit to 34-30. The second half was tight throughout, with neither team leading by more than five points.
The last 7:02 of regulation was a one-score game. Iowa State had its biggest lead in the first half at 25-18 with a 7-0 run that preceded the 16-0 Arizona run. Love struggled in the second half, making two of his 11 shots from the field and one of eight three-point attempts before the shot from beyond half-court.
After Iowa State scored the first two points in overtime, Arizona outscored the Cyclones 15-2 the rest of the way. Love made two of his three shots from the field in overtime, with both three-pointers. K.J. Lewis had 14 points, eight rebounds and six assists and Carter Bryant scored 14 as the other Arizona players in double figures.
Tamin Lipsey led Iowa State with 18 points, Jefferson had 13 of his 15 points in the second half, and Keshon Gilbert scored 13 of his 17 points after halftime. Arizona did an exceptional job on Iowa State's leading scorer Curtis Jones. Jones was 1-11 from the floor, 0-8 on threes and 6-8 from the free throw line.
Arizona improves to 14-6 overall and 8-1 in the Big XII, half a game behind Houston and now in sole possession of second place. Iowa State drops to 17-3 overall and 7-2 in the Big XII. Arizona is at Arizona State on Saturday. Iowa State will host Arizona on March 1 in the Wildcats penultimate road game this season.