LAS VEGAS — Arizona freshman Koa Peat had a chip on his shoulder before making his college debut Monday.
Feeling a bit neglected in Switzerland while playing for the USA 19-and-under team, the three-time Arizona Gatorade Player of the Year said he was going to remind people that he was one of the best incoming freshmen, despite not playing in the McDonald’s All-American Game or at the Nike Hoop Summit.
“I feel like I’ve been kind of forgotten,” Peat said during an earlier interview with Hoops HQ. “I’m just trying to remind people and show them what I’m about.”
And that’s exactly what he did Monday, announcing his presence in college basketball with authority during No. 13 Arizona’s 93-87 win over third-ranked and reigning champion Florida in the Hall of Fame Series inside the jam-packed T-Mobile Arena.
“It was a coming out party for him, so to speak,” Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd said. “Everyone’s known about him, but no one’s really, really studied him and watched him, and he’s a special player.”
The 18-year-old defied his freshman status in his nationally televised collegiate debut, leading all scorers with 30 points and adding 7 rebounds and 5 assists. He became the second Big 12 freshman to debut with 30 or more points, joining Kansas State’s Michael Beasley, who had 32 in his debut in 2007.
Jaden Bradley was also impressive, scoring 27 points, including 11 of Arizona’s final 18 points, to help seal the win. He added five assists, making him and Peat the second pair of Arizona teammates in the past 30 seasons to each have at least 25 points and five assists in the same game. They join Chase Budinger and Nic Wise, who did it against Stanford on March 7, 2009.
Peat is a part of a family that has produced seven Division I athletes. He’s the son of Todd Peat, a guard in the NFL for nine seasons, and his brother, Andrus, is a three-time Pro Bowl selection who spent much of his time in the NFL with the New Orleans Saints and is now with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Koa Peat’s athleticism was on full display late in the second half with the score tied at 70-all when he delivered back-to-back thunderous dunks, sending the crowd of 16,704 into a frenzy and giving Arizona a 74-70 lead. He gave the Wildcats momentum for a game-ending 23-17 run to provide the difference.
Peat said spending his summer playing for Lloyd while representing Team USA with the 19-and-under World Cup team that won gold in Switzerland helped prepare him for his first season at the collegiate level.
“He ran some of the same sets at USA, so coming to U of A in the fall, it was pretty easy to adapt to those,” said Peat, who was the national team’s third-leading scorer and leading rebounder. “I think what really helped me [tonight] was just the practices. We practiced really hard throughout the week, leading up to this game. And I’m just grateful to have coaches and teammates that put me in positions to be good, and especially [Bradley]. He just makes my game so easy … he’s one of the best point guards in the country, if not the best point guard in the country.”
Thomas Haugh led Florida with 27 points, Xaivian Lee scored 14, and Alex Condon and Micah Handlogten each had 11.
Ivan Kharchenkov, who shook off an injury late in the first half that sent him to the locker room, finished with 12 points for the Wildcats.
Arizona shot 49.2% (30-of-61) from the field, while Florida’s poor second-half shooting (14-of-38, 36.8%) sealed its fate in becoming the first reigning champion to lose its season opener since Syracuse in 2003-04.
The Gators opened the game strong, pushing their lead to 12 points after hitting 11 of their first 16 shots. But the Wildcats clamped down on defense and held Florida to 5-for-16 shooting the rest of the half while going on a 32-16 run by hitting 11 of 18 shots down the stretch.
ESPN Research and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
