5 takeaways from Arizona’s win over Iowa State in Big 12 Tournament semis | Michael Lev

Here are my top five takeaways from Arizona’s 82-80 victory over Iowa State in the semifinals of the Big 12 Tournament on Friday evening in Kansas City, Missouri:

1. Atta POY!

So about that Player of the Year debate ...

If there were any lingering doubts about Jaden Bradley’s worthiness, he dispelled them Friday. Arizona’s senior point guard reclaimed his rightful place as The Closer.

Forty-five seconds left, Iowa State’s Killyan Toure in his grill, Bradley uses his chest to create space and knock down an off-balance pull-up jumper. Arizona 80, ISU 77.

After Tamin Lipsey tied it with a 3-pointer — the two teams were pouring in 3’s in the second half — Bradley made the play of the year.

He again took Toure off the dribble. Toure steered him into the right corner. Bradley launched a fallaway jumper just before the clock expired.

It dropped through the basket. Bradley ended up on the floor near the UA bench. His teammates immediately dogpiled him — or Catpiled him, if you prefer.

Whatever the case, it was money. The Master of the Midrange did it again.

The pushback against Bradley as Big 12 POY stemmed from his statistical profile. He didn’t have the numbers that AJ Dybantsa or JT Toppin put up. (I think Toppin would have won the award had he not gotten hurt.)

But Bradley has been so good in the clutch. ESPN’s Jay Bilas said Bradley averages 36 points per 40 minutes in “clutch time.” I don’t know exactly how that’s defined. But we all know what we’ve seen from Arizona’s senior leader.

2. Seniors’ night

After freshman Brayden Burries carried the Wildcats in the quarterfinals, Bradley and his fellow seniors took the baton and led the way vs. the Cyclones.

There’s truly no substitute for experience, especially in March, when the pressure ratchets up.

Anthony Dell’Orso led Arizona with 26 points on 10-of-14 shooting, including 6 of 9 from 3-point range. The same Anthony Dell’Orso who literally couldn’t make a shot in three games in January.

Dell’Orso was in a horrific slump. But Tommy Lloyd insisted he would come out of it and would have a night like this in a spot like this.

Lloyd never lost faith in “Delly.” Per usual, Tommy was right.

The other senior rotation player, power forward Tobe Awaka, put up a classic Awaka stat line — 10 points, 10 rebounds and a team-best plus-14 plus/minus rating.

Iowa State was doing damage on the offensive boards early in the game, contributing heavily to its 14-2 lead. That changed when Awaka came off the bench. It always does.

Awaka had a 22.1% rebound rate, per StatBroadcast. That means he corralled about one out of every five missed shots while on the floor. The next-closest player on either team: Koa Peat at 13.8%.

Arizona’s finishing five featured three seniors — Bradley, Dell’Orso and Awaka — plus Ivan Kharchenkov and Motiejus Krivas. Starters Burries and Peat spent the final 6:01 on the bench. About that ...

3. The team, the team, the team

This UA squad is truly a team. These Wildcats put their egos aside for the greater good. It’s what makes them so special — and so hard to beat.

Yes, Burries has emerged as the Wildcats’ leading scorer, their most explosive player and their best NBA prospect. But any given Wildcat can go off on any given night. Seven of the eight rotation regulars — everyone but Dwayne Aristode — has had a 20-plus-point performance.

I won’t go so far as to say the Cats are unbeatable for that reason, but it makes it extremely challenging to game-plan against them.

They also have a very high care factor. I wrote before the Big 12 Tournament that Arizona should try to win it, even though the Wildcats had nothing to gain, seed-wise, from doing so — and would run the risk of losing a player to injury.

During Friday’s game, a handful of social-media posters suggested an acceptable outcome would be to lose while preserving everyone’s health. Big-picture considerations could have been part of the reason Burries — whom ESPN showed with heat wraps on his thigh and calf coming out of halftime — remained on the bench. He was also ice cold (0 of 7, three points).

But the way the Wildcats battled back from down double digits early, overcame a brutal end to the first half and celebrated like little kids when they won tells you everything you need to know.

These guys are elite competitors.

4. Put it on re-Peat?

Peat has been one of the best freshmen in a loaded class this season. He’s been a starter on an NCAA Tournament 1-seed since November.

That doesn’t mean he’s ready to jump to the NBA after this season, as has been widely assumed.

Peat has great size and athletic instincts. He’s not a polished offensive player.

While he has excellent defensive footwork in one-on-one matchups — and the ability to switch onto guards, which is so coveted in the NBA — he sometimes loses focus on that end of the court. The difference in defensive rebounding when Awaka is at the “four” is palpable.

The idea of a player of Peat’s caliber coming back for another year was far-fetched as recently as a few years ago. But revenue-sharing and NIL have changed the game. Toppin reportedly got about $4 million to return to Texas Tech this season.

It’s not the time to contemplate next year’s roster — and it’s unwise to assume anything in the transfer-portal era — but the possibilities of what might be in 2026-27 for Arizona are exhilarating.

Let’s say Peat does the right thing. And the rumors that Krivas intends to come back are true. And Kharchenkov (who had 17 points, five assists and three steals Friday) and Aristode return. There’s your core.

Add highly rated incoming freshmen Caleb Holt and Cameron Holmes to that mix, and Arizona very well could be back in this spot again a year from now.

But first things first. Championship Saturday.

5. Revenge tour

As of this writing, Houston was clobbering Kansas in the other semifinal.

Either way, it’d be an opportunity for payback.

The Cougars beat the Wildcats in last year’s Big 12 Championship Game. The Jayhawks handed the Cats one of their two losses this season.

Just getting there in this league two years in a row is a hell of an accomplishment.

Bilas and Dan Shulman opined during the UA-ISU game that the final four in the Big 12 could very well be the Final Four come April. That’s no exaggeration.

As of halftime of the nightcap, Arizona (No. 3), Houston (No. 5) and Iowa State (No. 6) were in the top six in KenPom’s overall ratings. Kansas was No. 19 with the arrow still pointing up; the talented Jayhawks have yet to hit their ceiling.

Skepticism accompanied Arizona’s arrival in the Big 12. There was no way the Wildcats would stroll into this league and dominate, right?

I remember conversations with my colleagues about UA fans needing to accept the reality of multiple losses in conference play. You can go 9-9 in this league and still be a 6-seed in the NCAA Tournament!

Well, we clearly underestimated Lloyd’s ability to put together and coach up a roster that was Big 12-worthy.

Whether Arizona adds the tournament title to its regular-season crown doesn’t really matter. The Wildcats have proved they belong and then some.