Jaden Bradley scored 23 points and sank five free throws in the final 29 seconds, and top-ranked Arizona avoided the recent trend of undefeated teams getting upset with an 84-77 victory over UCF on Saturday afternoon in Orlando, Fla.
Bradley made 11 of 13 from the line and added six rebounds, five assists and two steals for the Wildcats (18-0, 5-0 Big 12).
Brayden Burries notched 18 points, and Motiejus Krivas posted a double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds. Ivan Kharchenkov had 10 points. Tobe Awaka totaled 10 points and nine rebounds before fouling out.
Leading scorer Koa Peat played with foul trouble, was held scoreless in the first half and finished with a career-low four points in 20 minutes.
The victory continued the second-best start by Arizona in program history since it opened the 2013-14 campaign with a 21-0 record.
Point guard Themus Fulks had a career-high 30 points but fouled out for the Knights (14-3, 3-2), who were attempting to beat their highest-ranked team ever since upsetting No. 3 Kansas at home two years ago.
Jordan Burks netted 16 points, and Riley Kugel put in 12.
In the matchup’s first four minutes, UCF led after John Bol’s slam and Kugel’s three-pointer, but Burries, Awaka and Krivas combined for 20 points in the first 10:07 as the Wildcats began to assert themselves and led 26-11 after a 19-2 run.
At the 4:02 mark, Fulks canned a 15-footer to bring it to 35-31, and his deep ball inside the final minute brought UCF to within two. But Awaka’s free throw in the final seconds left the visitors with a 41-38 halftime lead.
Krivas (15 points), Burries (11) and Awaka (nine) accounted for 35 of Arizona’s 41 points in the half, while Fulks carried UCF by tallying 18 points.
With Peat still not on the scoresheet, Arizona led 49-45 five minutes into the second half as Kharchenkov and Bradley helped out the offense by netting four points apiece.
The visitors grew the lead to 59-49 on Dwayne Aristode’s layup at 10:50 and led comfortably the next 10 minutes.
UCF trimmed it to 79-73 in the final minute, but Bradley made 5 of 6 from the stripe to prevent the Knights from achieving an historic victory.
–Field Level Media
