The utilities industry is recession proof but it seems that the 2025-26 Arizona Wildcats basketball team is as well. Arizona defeated UCF on the road 84-77, Saturday afternoon. The Wildcats overcame the worst Koa Peat performance of the season, a poor performance from beyond-the-arc and their leading sharpshooter putting up zero points. The Big 12 is unrelenting and deep with title contenders but Arizona may very well be the best of the best.
UCF’s Themus Fulks had his best game of the season, scoring 30 points. Fulks, the Knights’ assists leader, also put up eight assists and five rebounds. Riley Kugel struggled against the Wildcats’ stout defense. Kugel shot 5-18 from the field and made just one of his five three-point attempts. Johnny Dawkins has done a great job retooling his UCF team this season and the Big 12 seemingly has another potential tournament team with the Knights.
Arizona = struggle proof
In the matchup versus UCF, Arizona did not get any offensive contribution from their NBA lottery pick, Koa Peat. Peat scored four points, hitting only one of his four attempts from the field. It was the worst performance of the season for Peat, playing just 20 total minutes after getting into foul trouble in the first half.
Arizona sniper Anthony Dell’Orso has had an up and down season from a shooting perspective. He’s had games where he was a key contributor to a big victory, but he’s also had games like this one against UCF where he shot zero for six from the field and failed to score a point. In defense of “Delly,” he did pass the ball well in this contest, securing three assists on limited touches. His role on the team has also heavily shifted over the last 12 months and that should be taken into account as well.
Ivan Kharchenkov had a productive game against the Knights but turned the ball over a team-high five times.
The Wildcats also made just three shots from beyond the arc in this game, shooting 23 percent. Despite all of these negative factors, Arizona still defeated UCF by seven and led for the majority of the game. This is not the first time Arizona has won without being on their “A” game. Brayden Burries scored in double figures just once in the Wildcats’ first five games and took a month to truly acclimate to the college game, and Arizona still won.
Finding True Balance
The term “ethical hoops” gets tossed around a lot now but this Arizona team actually embodies the core of the idea. The selflessness of this team is special and the depth of their skill is truly something opposing coaches envy. Arizona saw five players score 10 or more points against UCF, without Peat entering double figures. There have been seven different leading scorers this season for the Wildcats.
Tommy Lloyd has an eight-man rotation but every player in the lineup presents their own set of skills, challenging opponents. Jaden Bradley, for example, did not score much in the first half, allowing Brayden Burries to get his. However, in the second half, Bradley “popped the trunk,” and led his team to victory with 21 points, four rebounds and three assists in the half.
As Jerome Tang said, it’s truly pick your poison with Arizona… and it’s all poison.
Back To Tucson
Arizona just made their second-longest road trip of the season to UCF and shall return home to face Cincinnati and West Virginia at the McKale Center. The matchup with the Bearcats will take place January 21 and air on FS1. Cincinnati is one of the Big 12’s lesser programs at the moment but every Big 12 team is dangerous. Wes Miller’s group just took down No. 2 Iowa State and clearly can play with the top teams in this conference despite their resume heading into that game versus the Cyclones.
For more on both of these matchups as well as everything going on around Arizona Athletics, tune into the AZ Wildcats Podcast with Damon Fairall and Kevin Thomas.
