Freshman Koa Peat scored 30 points with seven rebounds and five assists in a stirring debut and No. 13 Arizona pulled off a 93-87 upset of No. 3 Florida at Las Vegas in the season opener on Monday.
Jaden Bradley scored 27 points and Ivan Kharchenkov added 12 points with 10 rebounds as Arizona rallied from a 12-point deficit in the first half to defeat defending champion Florida.
Peat, the centerpiece of the Wildcats’ acclaimed freshman class, went 11 of 18 from the floor in a team-high 30 minutes.
Thomas Haugh scored 27 points for Florida and Princeton transfer Xaivian Lee added 14 in his Gators debut. The Gators shot 36.8% from the floor in the second half to lose after they dropped just four games last season on the way to the third title in program history.
While Peat put on a show, it was the senior Bradley who scored 11 consecutive points for the Wildcats down the stretch starting with 5:08 remaining in the game to turn a 75-72 advantage into an 86-78 lead with 1:41 left.
As Bradley was taking charge, Florida went more than three minutes without a field goal. Lee made a layup with 1:21 left that pulled the Gators within 86-80 and their full-court pressure rattled Arizona.
Haugh converted on a layup off an Arizona turnover under his own basket to cut the Florida deficit to 88-85 with 44 seconds remaining. The Gators’ Boogie Fland missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer with 40 seconds remaining off another Wildcats turnover.
Anthony Dell’orso helped the Wildcats fend off the Gators’ rally with four free throws over the final 1:08. Peat sealed the victory on two free throws with 14.2 seconds remaining.
Florida led by as many as 12 points on multiple occasions in the first half before Arizona went on a 13-2 run to pull within 34-33 with 7:05 remaining before halftime. The Wildcats closed the first half on an 11-6 run to take a 50-46 lead into the break.
Peat scored 13 points for Arizona in the first half, while Haugh had 11 for Florida.
–Field Level Media
