Arizona Beats Defending Champion Florida as College Basketball Season Gets Underway

The best matchup of college basketball’s Opening Day November 3rd featured third ranked and defending national champion Florida playing #13 Arizona in Las Vegas. Freshman Koa Peat had an impressive college debut, scoring a team high 30 points to lead the Wildcats to an upset victory over the Gators 93-87. Jaden Bradley added 27 for Arizona.

Florida got off to a good start and led 24-12 at one point, before the Wildcats came back to take a 50-46 halftime lead into the locker room. Thomas Haugh led the Gators with 27 points.

The Gators will host three in state schools—North Florida, Florida State, and Miami—in their next three games. Arizona will host Utah Tech, Northern Arizona, and old Pac-12 rival #12 UCLA in their next three games. UCLA opened with an 80-74 win over Eastern Washington.