Koa Peat, Arizona Upset No. 3 Florida in CBB Season-Opener, Bryce James Doesn't Play

Florida may be the reigning champion in men's college basketball, but Arizona has Koa Peat.

And that was more valuable Monday.

The No. 13 Wildcats defeated the third-ranked Gators 93-87 in their high-profile season opener in Las Vegas thanks in large part to Peat's coming out party in his first collegiate game. The freshman finished with 30 points, seven rebounds, five assists, three steals and one block as he lived up to his 5-star billing on a national stage.

It was far from a one-man show, though, as Jaden Bradley acted as the de-facto closer on his way to 27 points, five assists, three rebounds and two steals for the Big 12 team that wasted no time adding a marquee victory to its early resume.

About the only thing missing for the Wildcats was the first collegiate appearance for Bryce James, who is the son of the legendary LeBron James and will surely find his way on the court against lesser competition.

As for the Gators, 27 points from Thomas Haugh was not enough to counterbalance the Peat and Bradley combination.

Despite the loss, it seemed like Florida was going to pick up right where it left off in the Big Dance when it jumped out to a double-digit lead in the first half.

However, Arizona came charging back to take a 50-46 lead by intermission. Peat did a little bit of everything as an efficient scorer in the lane who crashed the boards and facilitated when the Gators collapsed on him, which helped set the tone in front of a Las Vegas crowd that was largely partial to the Wildcats.

Throw in Ivan Kharchenkov's touch from beyond the arc and Bradley's scoring, and Arizona maintained that momentum into the second half as Florida went cold.

To Haugh's credit, he kept the SEC representative within striking distance even when many of his teammates struggled to find their shooting touch. Just like the Gators didn't have an answer for Peat for extended stretches, the Wildcats struggled to slow the forward without fouling him.

With Haugh leading the way, Florida came back to tie it heading into the stretch run before Peat unleashed back-to-back dunks and drew the fifth foul on Rueben Chinyelu in an electrifying sequence.

Yet with all the attention on Peat, it was Bradley who put the Gators away.

The senior guard scored 11 straight points for the Wildcats by using his blazing speed to blow past the perimeter defenders before he finished at the rim over bigs multiple times. He also fouled out Alex Condon during the stretch as Arizona seized control for good.

After such a significant test in the opener, both teams should ease into the rest of the schedule with the Wildcats set to face Utah Tech on Friday and the Gators set to play North Florida on Thursday.