Arizona Freshman Earn Award Filled Week Following Florida Game

Arizona has started off the 2025-26 season on the right foot with an impressive win over Florida on the national stage.

Oct 22, 2025; Kansas City, MO, USA; Arizonas Koa Peat speaks to media during Big 12 Menís Basketball media day at T-Mobile Center. Mandatory Credit: Sophia Scheller-Imagn Images | Sophia Scheller-Imagn Images

After pulling off the upset over then-No. 3 Florida (1-1) to open the college basketball season in Las Vegas, No. 5 Arizona (2-0) was back in action on Friday night as the Wildcats faced off against Utah Tech in their home opening game.

The opponent drop off from Florida was massive and the Wildcats looked sluggish throughout parts of the game against the Trailblazers. However, Arizona took care of business walking away with a 93-67 win over Utah Tech.

Coming into the game, the Wildcats were (-33.5) point favorites but at the half it was only a 44-37 game with the Trailblazers being able to get to the line and knock down a few 3-point buckets.

As a team, Arizona shot 53% from the field but turned the ball over eight times, which led to 15 points on the other end for Utah Tech. The sloppy play from the Wildcats really kept the Trailblazers in the game during the first half.

However, Arizona was able to clean things up in the second half and turned the ball over only three times and finished the game with three turnovers.

Once again, the calming force for Arizona was point guard Jaden Braldey, who didn’t have a great scoring game with eight points but racked up six assists to just one turnover. Bradley was able to get the offense under control and back on track after a sloppy first half.

Nov 7, 2025; Tucson, Arizona, USA; Utah Tech Trailblazers guard Tanner Davis (11) attempts to make a lay up while Arizona Wildcats forward Koa Peat (10) attempts to block him during the first half of the game at McKale Memorial Center. Mandatory Credit: Aryanna Frank-Imagn Images | Aryanna Frank-Imagn Images

In the paint, Arizona was able to use its size to cause issues for Utah Tech as forward Tobe Awaka went for his first double-double of the season with 12 points and 18 rebounds. Awaka managed to go 5 of 10 from the field and get to the line four times.

Now, With two games under their belt, the Wildcats will be getting ready to go up against NAU in the second home game of the season before Arizona heads to LA for a showdown against rival No. 15 UCLA (2-0).

Over the last two games, freshman Koa Peat has been a monster for Arizona with his 30-point debut performance against Florida and then following that up with 18 points against Utah Tech.

What a week for @kpeat10 ‼️ pic.twitter.com/2DKyADyusa

— Arizona Basketball (@ArizonaMBB) November 10, 2025

The 30-point game against Florida by Peat was the second high scoring debut by a freshman in program history behind Eric Money, who scored 37 during the 1972-73 season against Cal State Bakersfield.

The two games during the first week of college basketball earned Peat awards and honors with him receiving the Big 12 and NCAA Player of the Week and Newcomer/Freshman of the Week by both entities.

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