SAN JOSE – Early in the second half of Thursday’s West Regional matchup against Arkansas, massive freshman Koa Peat inbounded the ball against pressure. He took a return pass and raced up the court, slicing through traffic with his off-hand before finishing a layup.
Calm, cool and coast-to-coast for a rocked-up freshman listed at 6-8, 235 who might actually be closer to 250.
Koa Peat just drove the ball 90 feet into the paint and he saw no rim protection, Arkansas bigs have took them far but they’ve just been out played to the point that makes you want to quit https://t.co/eb4Slnx4AQ pic.twitter.com/XdoPgtREtI
— BKS Sports (@BKSecretsports) March 27, 2026
Peat is one half of Arizona’s freshman starting combination. The other is Brayden Burries, an ice cold shooting guard who isn’t afraid to defend and be physical.
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Arizona overwhelmed Arkansas in all phases, cruising to a 109-88 win and looking like the best team still left standing in the NCAA Tournament.
Arkansas coach John Calipari didn’t hold back after the loss.
“Arizona is really, really good. And if they shoot the ball that way, and they do the things they did today…wow.”
Peat finished with 21 points, three rebounds and two assists, including a beautiful no-look to fellow freshman Tobe Awaka with six minutes left. Burries helped force more-highly-touted-than-him freshman star Darius Acuff Jr. to an 8-for-19 shooting night and a very hard-earned 28 points.
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Peat’s pedigree makes his journey seem somewhat inevitable. The son of an NFL offensive lineman, he is the youngest of seven children. His older brother, Andrus, played college football just up the road from San Jose at Stanford. He was selected 13th overall in the 2015 NFL draft and currently plays for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Peat dominated high school hoops at Perry High School in Arizona. He played through a broken hand as a senior, capping off a brilliant prep career with his fourth state championship.
Burries, who is already 19 as a freshman, was a 5-star recruit from California who chose the Wildcats over a host of other powerhouses. He was regarded as a prototypical three-and-D prospect NBA teams have fallen in love with.
Together, they came to Arizona as the Wildcats’ 31st and 32nd McDonald’s All-Americans with plenty of expectations. But it wasn’t with the same hype of fellow Big 12 incoming stars Darryn Peterson and AJ Dybansta. As the 2025-26 season unfolded, Cameron Boozer and Acuff Jr’s names got momentum for the No. 1 overall pick.
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But Peat and Burries? They just kept on hooping, somewhat under the radar nationally.
“They haven’t come in acting like they know everything,” Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd said postgame. “They’ve been very coachable. I’m not afraid to challenge them to get better at the basics. You master the basics, you have a chance to be a great basketball player.”
Burries broke out of his shooting slump at long last Thursday, which makes an Arizona team with perhaps only one weakness – shooting – even more formidable. His matchup with Purdue off guard Fletcher Loyer will be massive when the Wildcats face a veteran, battle-tested Purdue team loaded with veterans on Saturday with a trip to the Final Four on the line.
Arizona became the first team in NCAA Tournament history to have six players score at least 14 points. The bench isn’t deep, but the core rotation is dynamic. And the three freshmen are a massive part of it.
Big 12 Player of the Year Jaden Bradley, a senior point guard who transferred to Arizona from Alabama, will match up with Braden Smith, the NCAA’s all-time assist leader. Even he knows his freshmen will be a major key against the Boilermakers.
“We’ve got a very talented group (of freshmen),” he said. “They’re very poised, they help control the tempo.”
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Tempo figures to be crucial Saturday. Arizona is dynamic in transition, with five players capable of flying up-and-down the floor, and three or four players capable of handling the ball. Purdue is a one-man show in many ways, with Smith orchestrating everything and keeping the ball on a string.
The Boilermakers escaped a challenge from 11-seed Texas with a tip-in by Trey Kaufman-Renn in the final seconds. The Boilermakers are no stranger to the big stage, but Arizona looks ready to bring a title to the West Coast for the first time since 1997.
The champions that year? Miles Simon, Mike Bibby, Richard Jefferson and the Arizona Wildcats.
“Of all the matchups I didn’t want to see, it was this matchup,” Calpari said.
He certainly isn’t alone this March.
