With the Iowa State defense having cut off his supply line, the guy who was supposed to take “The Shot” just stood there and watched Caleb Love put it up, up and over the halfcourt line, over the 3-point line, over the free-throw lane, with a final descent toward the rim.
Henri Veesaar kept watching.
“I was like ‘Oh, that looks pretty good. … still looks pretty good … it went in,’” the Arizona power forward said. “I was definitely in disbelief when it happened. Like, ‘Did it really go in?’”
It did. Love hit about a roughly 60-foot shot to tie the game at the buzzer of regulation, and the Wildcats eventually beat the third-ranked Cyclones 86-75 in overtime Monday, even though Iowa State had smothered away the notion of inbounder Anthony Dell’Orso firing a three-quarter-court pass to Veesaar for a potential buzzer-beater much closer to the basket.
Veesaar had no problem with that.
“I think what we got was better,” Veesaar said.
The Arizona Wildcats gather together after guard Caleb Love (1) hit a last-second shot to push the game against Iowa State into overtime at McKale Center on Jan. 27, 2025.
UA coach Tommy Lloyd wasn’t complaining, either.
“When the ball goes in, you’re like, ‘Wow, we just got a little bit of a gift. Let’s take advantage of it,’” Lloyd said. “It was a great moment for our program. I would have liked to play better down the stretch, but we didn’t and Caleb made an amazing play to give us an opportunity to win the game.”
Maybe it will become more than that. The Wildcats head into an intrastate rivalry game at ASU on Saturday at 8-1 in Big 12 play, already riding the momentum of winning 10 games in their past 11, the last victory pulled cleanly out of Love’s magic hat.
Maybe it leads to a Big 12 title, or at least a top-four NCAA Tournament seed that appeared improbable after the Wildcats finished nonconference play at 6-5. If nothing else, Lloyd can hope it leads to more from Love, who has been notably inconsistent all season.
“We know how heavily scrutinized Caleb’s been and maybe this is a catalyst that kicks him down a really successful path to end his college career,” Lloyd said. “ I think he’s very deserving of that. I think that would be great for our team if he could do that, but more importantly, I think it would be great for him.”
At the same time, Lloyd said he also found the Wildcats’ win Monday already has led to more from UA basketball fans, who watched them slog through a weary nonconference season and become difficult to gauge during a conference schedule that has been softer than the back half promises to be.
There was UA’s 70-54 loss at Texas Tech on Jan. 18, too.
But beating Iowa State was different. Love’s shot, and UA’s win, put the still-unranked Wildcats firmly on the national basketball radar..
“Iowa State’s a really good program, and it’s a meaningful win,” Lloyd said. “But what I noticed this week is that it kind of lit a fire under our fan base and got people excited about basketball the way that they oftentimes are here.
“That’s encouraging when people are excited about basketball here. It’s great for our community.”
The Wildcats have an immediate chance to keep engaging them Saturday, because they’ll be playing at ASU.
Unlike in football, UA or ASU typically have few players actually from the state, and neither has a single rotation player this time. But, Lloyd indicated the matchup still matters intensely for those watching the games.
“I don’t think you have to overdo it, but I also think you gotta let guys know what this game means to the state of Arizona,” Lloyd said. “A lot of our players are from other states, other countries, so they might not have a full grasp on the rivalry (as do) people that have lived here their entire lives. You want to let your players know this is a meaningful game, and it should be treated as such.”
While ASU doesn’t have a single player left in its rotation from the team that snuck out an 89-88 victory at McKale two seasons ago, when Desmond Cambridge hit a buzzer-beater roughly 5 feet even longer than the one Love put up, the Sun Devils repeatedly pulled within five points in the second half at Tempe last season despite having an otherwise lousy season.
Arizona State guard Desmond Cambridge Jr. reacts after scoring against Arizona during the second half of a 2023 game at McKale.
They are much improved this season, especially if wing BJ Freeman (thigh bruise) and post player Jayden Quaintance (ankle) play Saturday as expected.
So during the week, Lloyd sought a balance between resting after Monday’s emotional game and preparing for the Sun Devils on Saturday. He gave them Tuesday completely off, then held only film and meeting room sessions on Wednesday, before the Wildcats returned to court Thursday.
It was a mini-breather in a twice-weekly Big 12 schedule that never lets up. Not until the league likely peels back to 18 games next year, at least.
“It was a good little stopgap for us,” Lloyd said. “We kind of put ourselves behind the eight ball a little bit in the nonconference, so we had to push hard to fight back. We’ve been pushing, pushing, pushing. It was good just to have a couple days off.”
