Jaden Bradley again provided a clutch performance scoring 21 of his 23 points in the second half and finished with six rebounds and five assists in No. 1 Arizona’s 84-77 victory Saturday over UCF at Orlando, Fla.
Bradley scored Arizona’s last nine points over the last 1:17, all at the free-throw-line to help thwart UCF’s upset bid.
Arizona (18-0, 5-0 Big 12) is now three victories shy of matching the best start in school history, 21-0 in 2013-14.
UCF is a Quad 1 team presently. Arizona is 7-0 against such teams this season.
The Wildcats host Cincinnati (10-8, 2-3) on Wednesday at 7 p.m. The Bearcats upset No. 2 Iowa State 79-70 at home Saturday.
Bradley was one of five Arizona players to score in double figures. The others were Brayden Burries (team-high 18 points), Motiejus Krivas (17), Ivan Kharchenkov (10) and Tobe Awaka (10).
Krivas achieved his fifth double-double, pulling down 12 rebounds.
Themus Fulks, who fouled out with 44 seconds left, finished with a career-high 30 points on 11-of-18 shooting for UCF (14-3, 3-2). He also had eight assists.
Koa Peat, Arizona’s leading scorer at 15.3 points a game, did not attempt his first shot until 18:58 remained in regulation because he sat all but four minutes in the first half after picking up his second foul.
He scored his first points of the game with two free throws with 8:26 left, putting Arizona ahead 63-52.
Arizona built that lead behind Bradley scoring eight points while making his first three shots in the second half.
Bradley’s six points in a 10-0 run gave Arizona a 61-49 lead with 10:13 remaining.
Peat’s first field goal with 6:41 left was a dunk off a feed from Bradley that put Arizona ahead 67-55.
Fulks’ layup with 2:04 left cut the lead to 75-68. Bradley made four consectuve free throws in the next two possessions.
Peat had the opportunity to make the lead more secure with 44 seconds left but missed both free throws.
Chris Johnson then made a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 79-73 with 37 seconds left.
Peat finished with four points and three rebounds after tallying 24 points and 10 rebounds in the win over Arizona State on Wednesday.
Arizona was 23 of 33 from the free-throw line while UCF was 13 of 14.
Anthony Dell’Orso committed a turnover after taking the inbound pass and UCF called timeout with 34.1 seconds left.
After a failed jumper by Johnson, Bradley made both free throws with 29 seconds left to increase the lead to 81-73.
Bradley nailed four more from the line to seal the win.
Arizona went on a 19-2 run to take a 26-11 lead with 9:53 left in the first half, a stretch that included UCF missing 10 straight attempts from the field.
Krivas, a 7-foot-2 center, had 11 points in that run, including a 3-pointer.
Jordan Burks started to ignite UCF’s comeback and Fulks led the charge thereafter.
Burks scored the first seven points and Fulks had 11 when the Knights outscored Arizona 24-11 and cut the lead to 37-35 with 1:53 left in the half.
UCF made 10 of 11 shots, including Fulks converting all five of his attempts, in that run.
Fulks had 18 points on 7-of-8 shooting from the field in the first half, the main reason why the Knights trailed by only 41-38 at the half.
His teammates were 8 of 23 at that point.
Krivas’ 15 points with seven rebounds was essential after Peat picked up his second foul four minutes into the game and sat the rest of the half.
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