Koa Peat became the first Arizona freshman to score 30 points and have five rebounds and five assists in his Wildcat debut and Jaden Bradley scored 27 as the Wildcats rallied for a 93-87 win over defending national champion Florida in Las Vegas.
Arizona fell behind by 12 twice in the first half before closing the opening 20 minutes on a 30-14 run to take a 50-46 halftime lead. Peat had 13 points, five rebounds and five assists in the first half and finished with 30 on 11 of 18 from the field, seven, five and three steals.
Bradley scored 27 points on nine of 14 from the field, made nine of his 10 free throws, with three rebounds, five assists, two steals and only three turnovers in 36 minutes. Freshman Ivan Karchenkov, a surprise starter, scored 12 points and had a team-high 10 rebounds.
Peat kept Arizona in the game early as Florida took 24-12 and 32-20 leads. Arizona committed eight of the 14 turnovers in the first half. Forward Thomas Haugh helped Florida take the 12 points leads and helped keep the Gators in the game in the second half, finished with 27 points on 7-13 from the field, 12-14 on free throws with four rebounds.
With the concentration on the frontlines, Bradley was able to consistently penetrate, especially in the second half and Arizona was exceptional defensively on the perimeter after a shaky start. Florida's starting guards, Boogie Fland and Xaivian Lee, combined to shoot 8-26 from the field and 3-13 on three-point attempts.
Bradley, Peat and Karchenkov were the only Arizona players to finish in double figures. Lee scored 14 and Preseason All-American Alex Condon and Micah Handlogten each had 11 as the other players in double figures for Florida. Arizona next hosts Utah Tech at 7 PM on Friday.