No. 5 Arizona freshman Koa Peat is season's 1st AP player of the week

The Associated Press national player of the week in men’s college basketball for Week 1 of the season:

Koa Peat, Arizona

The freshman arrived in Tucson with plenty of hype as one of the nation's top recruits. Peat lived up to it in his first game, scoring 30 points with seven rebounds and three steals in No. 5 Arizona's 93-87 win over reigning national champion and then-No. 3 Florida. The 6-foot-8 forward had the second-highest scoring game by an Arizona freshman behind Eric Money's 37-point game in 1972 and became the first player in Big 12 history with 30 points and five assists in his debut. Peat followed that up by scoring 18 points on 6-of-7 shooting with three rebounds and three assists in a 93-67 blowout of Utah Tech.

Runner-up

Labaron Philon Jr., No. 8 Alabama. The 6-4 sophomore guard averaged 23.5 points, 5.5 assists and 3.0 rebounds in wins over North Dakota and against then-No. 5 St. John’s. Philon scored 25 points on 10-of-17 shooting in the 103-96 win over the Red Storm at Madison Square Garden and had 22 points in a 91-62 win over North Dakota. He made 19 of 30 shots in the two games. Philon is third in the SEC in scoring at 23.5 per game and fourth in assists at 5.5.

Honorable mention

Caleb Wilson, No. 18 North Carolina; Zuby Ejiofor, No. 13 St. John's; Christian Anderson, No. 11 Texas Tech.

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