Three Takeaways From Arizona's Win Over UConn

In those final minutes, Arizona once again turned to veteran guard Jaden Bradley to close things out. He battled inside to make a layup to put the Wildcats up by three with 16 seconds left.

Arizona is now 5-0 with three ranked wins. Tommy Lloyd's aggressive scheduling out of conference, coupled with a challenging Big 12 slate, has the Wildcats soaring up rankings early in the season and inspiring plenty of confidence for a potential tournament run in March. Here are a few takeaways from Arizona's latest big win.

Koa Peat Steps Up When It Matters Most

Arizona's top true freshman in the latest recruiting class has been every bit as advertised so far. Peat jumped out to a big start with 30 points, seven rebounds and five assists in the opener against Florida.

Peat has played a significant number of big minutes this season and performed well. He had a tough outing against UCLA, but his bounce-back against the Huskies was an excellent sign. He dropped 16 points and 12 rebounds against the Huskies, recording his first double-double for the Wildcats.

The star-studded recruiting class has been up and down so far, but Peat has been a core piece to the puzzle this season. The 6-foot-8 freshman forward is averaging 16.2 points, 6.6 rebounds, 2.8 assists, one steal and 0.6 blocks per game.

His defense at the rim and his scoring ability are obvious, but his passing and playmaking abilities can go under the radar at times. When Bradley takes over at the end of games, Peat can be used as a space creator and a facilitator for the offense.

Brayden Burries' Struggles Continue

One of the freshmen who has not hit his stride yet is Burries, who continued to be quiet offensively against UConn. Burries played just 19 minutes and scored four points, shooting 2-of-4 from the field.

Arizona's offense still has room to grow, and Burries is the catalyst for that growth. Against UCLA, he shot just 1-of-9 from the field, and against Florida, he played only 17 minutes before fouling out.

Burries' best performance so far came against Utah Tech, when he scored 18 points and drilled three triples. That's the type of performance Lloyd hopes to get more consistently, because the shooting numbers have held the offense back.

Through five. games, Burries is shooting 33.3% from the field and 29.4% from long range. He also has 11 turnovers this season and hasn't been able to run the floor at the point yet.

The Wildcats haven't opened up from three-point range yet this season, and Burries was expected to be a big contributor in that area. Arizona is shooting 37.3% from range as a team, with most of the success coming from Bradley, Anthony Dell'Orso and Ivan Kharchenkov.

If Burries can find his groove before conference play, the Wildcats could open up their offense even more.

Arizona Dominates The Paint

Arizona beat the Huskies on the glass badly, out-rebounding UConn 43-23 on the road. That shouldn't happen against a Dan Hurley team full of veteran bigs, but the Wildcats were that much better.

With Arizona trailing by one point with just over a minute to go, Bradley took a bad shot and missed wildly. But, Motiejus Krivas was there under the basket and collected a chaotic rebound and then knocked down the basket to put the Wildcats in front.

UConn did not have Tarris Reed Jr. to pull in rebounds, but Arizona was just more physical anyway. The Wildcats grabbed 13 offensive boards and turned them into 16 second-chance buckets.

Lloyd said that style of play is how Arizona wants to win, especially with the lack of shooting from outside.

"That's how we're built," Lloyd said after the game. "If you're not up for the physical fight, it's going to be tough. It's going to be tough to be a team that wins consistently at a high level. It's going to be tough to win on the road. It's going to be tough to win in the NCAA tournament. It's going to be tough to make a deep run. We want to build our team with guys that are capable of playing physical basketball."

Peat's 12-rebound performance was his best as a college player so far, and he owned the glass against Alex Karaban and Jaylin Stewart. Krivas also grabbed 14 rebounds, while Tobe Awaka grabbed seven off the bench.

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