Arizona's Peat Suffers Injury In Loss to Texas Tech

The Arizona Wildcats suffered a major blow in their 78-75 loss against #16 Texas Tech, as Koa Peat suffered a lower body injury, and didn’t play in the second half of the contest.

Peat only played 11 minutes against Texas Tech before departing due to his injury. He scored just 2 points without attempting a field goal, grabbing one rebound and dishing out one assist. While Arizona eventually lost in overtime to suffer their second loss this week, Peat’s injury is the more pressing matter for the #1 team in the country.

Peat has been a revelation for the Wildcats this season, averaging 14.3 points (2nd on the team), and 5.6 rebounds per game while shooting 54 percent from the floor, and 33 percent from three-point range. His play this season has raised his NBA Draft stock, with many mock draft boards projecting him as a potential lottery pick in the 2026 NBA Draft. Additionally, Peat has landed on several midseason awards watch lists for his efforts this season.

Feb 7, 2026; Tucson, Arizona, USA; Arizona Wildcats forward Koa Peat (10) dunks the ball during the first half of the game against the Oklahoma State Cowboys at McKale Memorial Center. Mandatory Credit: Aryanna Frank-Imagn Images | Aryanna Frank-Imagn Images

Peat’s status going forward

After the matchup with Texas Tech, head coach Tommy Lloyd talked about the impact of Peat’s absence in what turned out to be a crushing defeat in overtime.

“It hurts us a lot,” Lloyd said. “But, we had enough to win. You’re up seven with three minutes and change to go, you’ve got to find a way to close that out. We didn’t, so Texas Tech gets credit for that. But, yeah, it hurts us. It definitely hurts our rotation, but that’s how these seasons go. You’re seeing a lot of it across the nation this week, these seasons are long. They’re hard, these kids work hard, these games are physical, and it looks like some of them are starting to get dinged up a little bit. We’ll bounce back. We’ll be fully loaded when we need to be.”

Peat has played a major part in Arizona’s highly impressive resume up to this point. The Wildcats have earned 9 quad 1 wins, 6 quad 2 wins, and have taken down 6 ranked opponents this season. They’ve hit a bit of a wall of late with two straight losses after a 23-0 start, so they’ll hope for Peat’s return to be sooner rather than later. Lloyd provided an update on Peat’s potential return to the court, which is still uncertain.

Feb 9, 2026; Lawrence, Kansas, USA; Kansas Jayhawks forward Bryson Tiller (15) blocks the shot Arizona Wildcats forward Koa Peat (10) during the first half at Allen Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images | Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images

“We’re going to figure it out,” Lloyd said. “It’s a lower leg deal, I know the doctors are on it, and I’m sure they’ll do some testing and we’ll figure out where it’s at, but I don’t have anything other than that.”

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