ORLANDO, Fla. â One game Koa Peat helps destroy his hometown team from ASU, the next he's sidelined with foul trouble and largely ineffective.
It wasn't a problem for Arizona.
The ever-balanced, ever-resourceful Wildcats figured it out again Saturday in an 84-77 win over UCF at Addition Financial Arena. They received 17 points and 12 rebounds from center Motiejus Krivas and more game-saving heroics from guard Jaden Bradley, who scored 23 points and hit 9 of 10 free throws he took over the final 77 seconds.
"I told our guys that to be able to win on the road in an environment like this against a team that's 14-2, and with Koa having a tough foul call early...credit to our team to absorb that" UA coach Tommy Lloyd said.
UA played most of the half without Peat, the freshman forward from Chandler who picked up his second foul less than nine minutes into the game and did not play the rest of the first half.
Peat finished with just four points and three rebounds in 19 minutes, after he had  24 points and 10 rebounds on Wednesday in UA's 89-82 win over ASU. But the production of Krivas and Awaka largely made up for it.
"We have each other's back and just barrel through it," Krivas said.
The Wildcats also went without the perimeter scoring of wing Anthony Dell'Orso, who missed all six shots he took, including three 3-pointers.
Without much offense from Peat or Dell'Orso, the Wildcats still managed double-digit scoring efforts from five different players, with freshman guard Brayden Burries adding 18 points on 8-for-14 shooting and center Tobe Awaka collecting 10 points and nine rebounds before fouling out after 27 minutes.
"Maybe they wore down a little bit but on the road. It takes what it takes," Lloyd said of his bigs. "You don't get to script these games."
The Wildcats led by up to 15 points in the first half and 13 in the second half, but were never able to fully put the Knights away, much like in their win over ASU on Wednesday.
UCF cut it to 79-73 with 34 seconds left after UCF's Chris Johnson hit a 3-pointer and DellâOrso turned the ball over. Officials also reviewed a play in which Bradley appeared to push an arm above Johnsonâs shoulder.
However, officials said there would not be a flagrant called, resulting in boos throughout the arena.
Arizona had taken a 41-38 lead into the second half and struggled to expand it after halftime. Arizona led just 51-19 with 13:58 left after Themus Fulks made two free throws â and Awaka missed a pair of free throws â but UA went on a 10-0 run from there to take a 61-49 lead with 10 minutes left.
In the first half, Krivas had 15 points and seven rebounds to help Arizona take a 41-38 halftime lead.
Arizona center Motiejus Krivas (13) dunks during the first half against Central Florida, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026, in Orlando, Fla.
The Knights cut it to just 37-25 with 1:53 on a jumper from Jordan Burks and again at 40-38 with 35 seconds left when Fulks hit a 3-pointer off an assist from Riley Kugel.
Before a capacity crowd of about 10,000 the Wildcats struggled in the first few minutes, and trailed 9-7 with 16:36 left when Kugel hit a 3-pointer for the Knights. But UA went on a 19-2 run over the middle of the first half to take a 26-11 lead with 9:53 left and UCF having made just one of their last eight shots to that point.
But the Knights pulled back fully into the game over the final few minutes of the first half, energizing an arena that had never hosted a No. 1-ranked team before.
"My credit goes to UCF and to coach (Johnny) Dawkins," Lloyd said. "It was an amazing environment. It's a big time college basketball environment. UCF is building their program and establishing their traditions and their legac and that was up there with any of them."
The top-ranked Wildcats (18-0) will return to McKale Center to host Cincinnati on Wednesday and West Virginia on Saturday before a showdown at BYU on Jan. 26, having figured out a way to start the season undefeated longer than during any season over the past decade.
"It's a group that has a winning DNA," Lloyd said. "That's something you don't take for granted."
