ORLANDO, Fla. – Guard Jaden Bradley added 23 points while hitting 9 of 10 free throws he took over the final 77 seconds to help Arizona hold off UCF and stay unbeaten with an 84-77 win over the Knights on Saturday at Addition Financial Arena.
Motiejus Krivas collected 17 points and 12 rebounds for the Wildcats while Brayden Burries had 18 points.
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The Wildcats led by up to 15 points in the first half and 13 in the second half, but UCF cut it to 79-73 with 34 seconds left after Chris Johnson hit a 3-pointer and Anthony Dell’Orso turned the ball over. Officials also reviewed a play in which Bradley appeared to push an arm above Johnson’s shoulder.
However, officials said there would not be a flagrant called, resulting in boos throughout the arena.
With a 15-point first-half lead that cut to two points shortly before halftime, Arizona took a 41-38 lead into the second half and struggled to expand it after halftime. Arizona led just 51-49 with 13:58 left after Themus Fulks made two free throws – and UA’s Tobe Awaka missed a pair of free throws – 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 points in the first half to help Arizona take a 41-38 halftime lead.
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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. The Wildcats entered the game 17-0 and ranked No. 1.
UA was playing most of the half without freshman forward Koa Peat, 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. Peat was coming off a standout performance against his hometown school, ASU, when he had 24 points and 10 rebounds.
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The Wildcats also went without the perimeter scoring of Dell’Orso, who missed all six shots he took, including three 3-pointers.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Jaden Bradley, Motiejus Krivas lead Arizona to win over UCF in Orlando
