Freshman star Koa Peat pushes Arizona to Final Four
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Xavier Andrade,
- March 29, 2026
Arizona returns to Final Four for first time in 25 years
SAN JOSE, Calif. – Faced with a seven-point deficit at halftime Saturday night, Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd challenged freshman sensation Koa Peat and the rest of the Wildcats to step up.
Peat and his teammates took Lloyd’s message to heart. They rallied in the second half against Purdue to push Arizona to the Final Four for the first time in 25 years.
“Guys, the coaching staff and I are going to leave right now,” Lloyd told his players at halftime. “You guys have a few minutes to talk amongst yourselves and figure this deal out. Let’s go kick their ass in the second half.”
That’s exactly what the No. 1 seed Arizona did to beat Purdue 79-64 in the West Regional Final at the SAP Center.
The message from the coaching staff was received. Arizona stormed out of the locker room on a 16-3 run, erasing the deficit and seizing momentum. Central to this comeback was the Wildcats’ defensive focus on senior guard Braden Smith, Purdue’s leading scorer and the NCAA’s all-time assist leader.
Arizona dominates after halftime
Peat, a 6-foot-8 forward from Chandler, Arizona, led Arizona with 20 points. He was named the West Regional’s Most Outstanding Player.
Although just a freshman, Koa Peat is no stranger to the big moments. He has had a fair share of experiences on the big stage. Poa arrived in Tucson before his freshman season already with four FIBA gold medals and four high school state championships on his resume.
His stellar night in the Elite Eight now propels the Wildcats to the Final Four in Indianapolis.
“He’s amazing,” Lloyd said. “His ability to perform the way he did in these moments—he’s been in a lot of them.”
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Peat wasn’t the only freshman making an impact for his team. Arizona’s starting lineup featured three freshmen – Peat, Ivan Kharchenkov and Brayden Burries. The trio accounted for 52 of the Wildcats’ 79 points.
However, Purdue refused to make it easy for Arizona at the Elite Eight. After the Wildcats jumped out to a 19–12 lead in the opening eight minutes, the Boilermakers steamrolled back to tie the game at 25-25.
Led by senior Braden Smith, who hit three 3-pointers in the first half, Purdue surged to a 38–31 halftime lead.
Arizona slowed Braden Smith late
“He was definitely high up on the scout,” Arizona senior Jason Bradley said of Smith. “That was a big part of the (scouting report), don’t let him get a clean look. He got some good looks.
“He got a couple. But I feel like everyone that was on him contested everything, tried to get through every ball screen. If we limited his 3-point attempts we would have a great look at winning the ball game.”
By the end of the game, Arizona held Smith to a 4-of-15 shooting performance and limited Purdue to just 38% from the field as a team.
Purdue head coach Matt Painter admitted that it wasn’t just the Wildcats’ intensity on defense that was a problem, it was their athleticism that eventually wore the Boilermakers down.
“They’ll wear you down,” Painter said of Arizona. “Their ability to get the ball in the paint. Whether that’s getting an offensive rebound, whether that’s driving the basketball. So if you look at how they play, they don’t shoot and really make a lot of threes, but their ability to get by you … they have such good positional size and quickness.”
Peat’s 20 points were the most points by an Arizona freshman in an Elite Eight game in school history. The Wildcats will head to Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. They’ll await the winner of the Elite Eight matchup between No. 1 Michigan and No. 6 Tennessee in the Midwest Regional.
“Just being a kid from Arizona, to take this team to a Final Four, it’s a blessing,” Peat said. “I’m proud of these guys. We worked for this. But we’re not done yet.”
Xavier Andrade
Xavier Andrade, who played football at Luther College, graduated with degrees in Communications and Political Science. He previously worked in editorial and social media for Hola Cultura, a Latino publication in Washington, D.C. Andrade currently coaches football at Hillsdale High School in San Mateo, Calif.
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