It was a thrilling back-and-forth opener between No. 13 Arizona and No. 3 Florida, but the Wildcats proved to be too much for the defending national-champion Gators in a 93-87 win in Las Vegas. Arizona put up 50 points in the first half and shot 49.2% for the game. While the Wildcats only went 2-of-5 from deep, they did not need any help from three by scoring 50 points in the paint. The biggest reason for the offensive success was the impressive debut for freshman forward Koa Peat, who went off for 30 points (11-of-18 FG), seven rebounds, five assists, three steals and one block. Peat’s versatility was on full display on this sequence in the second half. With Arizona leading, 59-54, Peat made a layup, got a block on the other end and converted another layup to extend the Wildcats’ lead to 63-54 with 13:18 remaining. His biggest highlight of the night came with the game knotted up at 70. Peat soared for a vicious one-handed slam and followed that up with a defensive rebound and another dunk with an assist fr
