Koa Peat achieved his first game with at least 20 points and 10 rebounds and Tobe Awaka scored a career-high 25 points to help No. 1 Arizona hold off Arizona State 89-82 Wednesday night at McKale Center.
Peat finished with 24 points and 10 rebounds after making all seven of his shots from the field in the second half.
The Wildcats shot 66.7 percent (18 of 27) from the field after halftime.
Arizona (17-0, 4-0 Big 12) used a stretch of 11 straight made field goals to pull away to a 75-63 lead with 7:01 left.
Arizona State (10-7, 1-3) responded with a 6-of-7 stretch from the field, including two 3-pointers by Noah Meeusen, to cut the lead to 83-79 with 1:37 left.
Maurice Odum made a 3-pointer while being fouled with 55 seconds left, but missed the free throw and Arizona led 85-82.
Jaden Bradley, who finished 12 points, four assists and no turnovers in 32 minutes, made a jumper with 27 seconds left to increase the lead to 87-82.
After Odum missed a 3-pointer, Awaka was fouled with 19 seconds left and he made both free throws to secure the win.
Awaka made all eight of his free-throw attempts and was 8 of 11 from the field.
Odum finished with 23 points and seven assists to lead Arizona State, which played impressively after losing 104-76 last week at BYU.
Massamba Diop added 16 points and six rebounds.
Peat had more turnovers (three) than made field goals (2 of 8 shooting) in the first half.
In the second half, he had 16 points behind his perfect shooting from the field.
Arizona’s backcourt of Bradley and Brayden Burries had more fouls combined (five) than made field goals and assists combined (four) in the first half.
The game was tied seven times and neither team had a lead of more than six points in the first half.
Arizona State led 39-38 at halftime after committing only one turnover and producing nine assists on its 15 made field goals in the half.
Awaka reached 15 points in the first half on 6-of-8 shooting from the field.
A 9-3 run by Arizona put the Wildcats ahead 51-46 with 15:50 left, but Arizona State answered with a 7-1 stretch that included a 3-pointer and jumper by Odum.
Motiejus Krivas picked up his fourth foul with 12:50 left, emblematic of his trouble matching up with the more agile Diop.
Arizona led 57-54 after Diop made one of two free-throw attempts after Krivas’ fourth foul.
The starting post player did not return.
Arizona proceeded with its hot shooting of 11 straight made field goals at that point.
Diop also picked up his fourth foul in that stretch. He had only five points and did not pull down a rebound in the second half.
Arizona’s 17-0 start is the second-best in program history, trailing only the 21-0 start by the 2013-14 team.
The Wildcats will next go to Orlando, Fla., for Saturday’s game at UCF (14-2, 3-1) at 2 p.m., Tucson time. The game will be televised on ESPN.
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