No. 1 Arizona (17-0, 4-0) at UCF (14-2, 3-1) | Addition Financial Arena, Orlando, Fla. | 2 p.m. | ESPN | 1290-AM
Probable starters
ARIZONA
0 G Jaden Bradley (6-3 senior)
5 G Brayden Burries (6-4 freshman)
18 F Ivan Kharchenkov (6-7 freshman)
0 F Koa Peat (6-8 freshman)
13 C Motiejus Krivas (7-2 junior)
Key reserves
3 F Anthony Dell’Orso (6-6 senior)
30 F Tobe Awaka (6-8 senior)
2 F Dwayne Aristode (6-8 freshman)
UCF
2 G Riley Kugel (6-5 senior)
4 F Jamichael Stillwell (6-8 senior)
1 G Themus Fulks (6-2 senior)
99 G Jordan Burks (6-9 junior)
7 C John Bol (7-2 sophomore)
Key reserves
35 F Devan Cambridge (6-6 senior)
22 G Chris Johnson (6-5 junior)
11 G Carmelo Pacheco (6-5 junior)
0 C Jeremy Foumena (6-11 junior)
How they match up
The series: Arizona had five players score in double figures while beating UCF 88-80 at McKale Center on Jan. 11, 2025, in the only previous matchup between the two teams. UCF didn’t become a Division I program until 1985.
UCF overview: Knights coach Johnny Dawkins, the onetime Duke standout who took over UCF in 2016-17 after facing Arizona regularly as Stanford’s head coach, has only led the Knights to the NCAA Tournament once but could make a second, somewhat unexpected, appearance this year.
After winning 20 games last season, including three in the Crown postseason event, Dawkins was forced to start over when his entire roster blew out of town. Nine UCF players transferred out, and Dawkins responded by pulling in his own transfer class that included two key players at Milwaukee last season: a steady point guard in second-team all-Horizon League pick Themus Fulks and the Horizon’s leading rebounder in Jamichael Stillwell. Dawkins also landed an efficient-scoring former SEC player in Riley Kugel.
Dawkins has gone with a consistent starting lineup and rotation that has mostly stayed healthy and features deceptive experience: While the Knights barely knew each other entering this season, they actually have the 26th-most Division I experience in the country as weighted by minutes played.
UCF isn’t running as fast a tempo as it did last season with guard Jordan Ivy-Curry (who graduated) and forward Keyshawn Hall (who transferred to Auburn), but the Knights run the 44th-most efficient offense in Division I. They shoot 37.9% from 3-point range, 54.9% from two-point range and rebound 37.8% of their missed shots (the 18th-best offensive rebounding percentage in Division I).
Fulks averages 7.3 assists per game with a 2.4-1 assist-turnover ratio, while Kugel is leading the Knights in scoring (14.8) and shoots 39.5% from 3-point range. Inside, Stillwell averages 12.7 points and 8.1 rebounds, ranking 63rd nationally in offensive rebounding percentage (14.3).
While 7-footer John Bol blocks 5.6% of opponents’ two-point shots when he’s on the floor, the Knights’ defense overall is average and teams are shooting 51.2% from two-point range against them. Also, the Knights don’t generate a high percentage of steals (on only 8.0% of opponents’ possessions.)
He said it: "I caught a little bit on Sunday (when UCF hosted and beat Cincinnati) and they were impressive. They just had great athletes out there, were really physical and aggressive. Obviously, they're off to a good start. They look like a formidable opponent to me. I watched that game, and I was like, 'All right, well, here we go.' This is gonna be another incredibly tough game on the road." — UA coach Tommy Lloyd
Key players
UCF
Riley Kugel
UCF guard Riley Kugel (2) drives past Kansas State guard P.J. Haggerty during the second half Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Manhattan, Kan.
After being a part-time starter during two stops over three seasons in the SEC — the first two at Florida and last season at Mississippi State — Kugel has found a regular home in the Knights’ starting lineup, while his 3-point shooting percentage and scoring average have jumped notably this season.
ARIZONA
Koa Peat
Arizona forward Koa Peat (10) drives his way over Arizona State center Massamba Diop (35) during the second half of their Big 12 game, Jan. 14, 2026, in Tucson.
Do top freshmen hit a midseason wall anymore? After playing a leading role in an emotional home win over ASU on Wednesday, Peat is facing a game on unfamiliar turf against an under-the-radar opponent that could be a launching pad for that sort of thing. But the Phoenix-area product has proven unusually consistent for a freshman so far this season.
Sidelines
3 make midseason lists
The Wildcats picked up some more individual recognition this week when the United States Basketball Writers Association named guard Jaden Bradley to its Oscar Robertson Trophy (player of the year) midseason watch list, and Koa Peat and Brayden Burries to its Wayman Tisdale Award (freshman of the year) watch list.
The Robertson list was made up of 25 players, while Peat and Burries were among 15 players named to the Tisdale list.
The watch lists are voted on by the USBWA’s 11-person board, while the entire membership will vote on the ultimate winners at the end of the regular season.
Hurley: Wildcats 'could go the distance'
Of all Big 12 coaches, ASU’s Bobby Hurley probably is the most qualified to judge the Wildcats this season: He faced them multiple times each of the previous 10 seasons before doing so again Wednesday, while his brother, Dan, lost to them in November as UConn’s coach.
“They've all been pretty good,” Hurley said of UA's teams after the Wildcats beat ASU 89-82 on Wednesday. “I don't want to try and compare now. I could just say they were really impressive (to watch) on film in getting ready for them. Obviously, my brother played them earlier in the year, and I watched their UCLA game and the Florida game.
“They really look like they're a team that could go the distance. If we could bottle some of what we did (against UA) and try and do that game in and game out, we have a chance to win some games … I'm pretty proud of what they did."
Costly emotion
UA coach Tommy Lloyd said he didn’t ask officials what led to technical fouls called against Burries and ASU’s Allen Mukeba midway through the first half of UA’s game Wednesday, but he did know this: The technical foul was Burries’ first of the first half, and he sat out three minutes immediately after committing a second foul with four minutes left in the half.
“It was an offsetting deal so it didn't really impact the game but it (meant) Brayden picked up a foul, and then he picked up another one," Lloyd said. "Now you got two, so that impacts minutes and subbing.”
It was the third straight game Arizona has had either a technical or flagrant foul called against it, with Peat whistled for taunting a Kansas State defender on Jan. 7 and Motiejus Krivas called for a Flagrant 1 foul on Jan. 10 at TCU.
Still, Lloyd indicated Arizona’s players have grown from their experiences.
“I think we’ve played in a lot of intense environments and emotional games,” Lloyd said. “I think, for the most part, we have pretty steady guys.”
Numbers game
2.3: Fewer percentage points visiting teams have shot at the free-throw line in the second half (74.3) at Addition Financial Arena, when they face a UCF student section known for waving palm fronds at them.
5: Power conference teams that did not return any scoring from last season: UCF, Baylor, Miami, Indiana and West Virginia.
14: Straight games Arizona has won over Johnny Dawkins-coached teams, counting 13 in a row against Stanford from 2009-16 and last season’s UA-UCF game.
— Bruce Pascoe
