Freshman Koa Peat helps carry Arizona into the Final Four of March Madness

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Koa Peat has been a winner throughout his basketball career.

He won four state titles in high school in Arizona and became the first player to win four international gold medals at the junior level. So when Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd was trying to entice Peat to play for the Wildcats, he pitched him on helping the school end a 25-year Final Four drought.

“That was my recruiting pitch,” Lloyd said. “Four, four, and four. Let’s do it. The dude, he’s amazing. His ability to perform the way he did in these moments, you know, he’s been in a lot of them.”

Peat fulfilled the wish in his first season with Arizona, leading the Wildcats to their first Final Four since 2001 with a memorable performance in the West Region of the NCAA Tournament. Arizona will take on Michigan in the national semifinals on Saturday in Indianapolis.

Peat scored 21 points in a Sweet 16 victory over Arkansas and added 20 more in the Elite Eight against Purdue to win the Most Outstanding Player of the region and become just the sixth freshman ever to score at least 20 points in wins in those two rounds, according to Sportradar. Peat joined a list with Kon Knueppel, Derrick Rose, Joseph Forte, Jalen Rose and Kenny Anderson.

Now Peat will try to do what those precocious stars couldn't and win Arizona's second national title to go with the one from 1997 when Mike Bibby was the star freshman on coach Lute Olson's squad.

“I saw a lot of the past legends that played for Arizona, and Mike Bibby, he was a big mentor to me,” Peat said. “He went to the Final Four, won the championship. When you put on the Arizona jersey, you know you’re playing for people that played before you. So it’s bigger than yourself; it’s the program.”

Peat arrived at Arizona last fall as a five-star recruit and has delivered on all the high expectations that come with it.

He scored 30 points in the opener in a win against defending-champion Florida, had 16 points and 12 rebounds in a nonconference win over Connecticut and returned after missing three games in February to score 21 points in the Big 12 title win against Houston.

“Just going out there, playing my game, trusting my teammates, them finding me in open spots, and staying the course,” he said. “Just keep playing. That’s really it.”

Peat hadn't followed the March struggles of Arizona's basketball program closely despite growing up in the state. He spent more time watching his four older brothers play football and two older sisters play basketball.

Peat could have followed the family path in football with his father, Todd, having played nine seasons in the NFL and his brother, Andrus, having just finished his 10th season in the NFL.

“I played a lot of sports growing up, baseball, football and basketball. So from a young age I was playing a lot of sports, around a lot of athletes in my family,” Koa said. “But honestly, I just truthfully fell in love with basketball. Especially during quarantine, all I was doing was training and just working out and really working on my body. I slimmed down a little bit, and I just thought basketball was like the best choice for me. Especially now you could play a long time playing basketball. Football’s a different story. I had great support from my family members in my choice in playing basketball, and I think I’ve made the right choice, for sure.”

The Wildcats sure think so, and now they wouldn't still be playing without him.

“They call him Mr. Arizona,” Lloyd said. “Koa is special.”

AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness

Arizona forward Koa Peat cuts down the net after a win over Purdue in the Elite Eight of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Saturday, March 28, 2026, in San Jose, Calif. (AP Photo/Kelley L Cox)

Arizona forward Koa Peat, center, shoots past Purdue center Oscar Cluff, left, during the second half in the Elite Eight of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Saturday, March 28, 2026, in San Jose, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

Arizona forward Koa Peat (10) dunks during the second half in the Elite Eight of the NCAA college basketball tournament against Purdue, Saturday, March 28, 2026, in San Jose, Calif. (AP Photo/Kelley L Cox)

Arizona forward Koa Peat celebrates after a win over Purdue in the Elite Eight of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Saturday, March 28, 2026, in San Jose, Calif. (AP Photo/Kelley L Cox)

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are sinking again Monday as oil prices keep climbing because of uncertainty about when the war with Iran could end.

The S&P 500 fell 0.7% and deepened its losses since the war began to pull 9.3% below its record set early this year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 50 points, or 0.1%, as of 3:15 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 1.1% lower.

Caution was prevalent throughout financial markets. After jumping to an initial gain of 0.9%, the S&P 500 quickly erased nearly all of it before seesawing lower. Stock indexes rose in Europe but fell sharply in some Asian markets, while the price for a barrel of benchmark U.S. crude rose 3.3% to settle at $102.88

The mixed movements followed a whirlwind of action in the war over the weekend, including an entry into the fighting by Houthi rebels in Yemen. The main issue for investors is whether oil and natural gas can resume their full flow from the Persian Gulf to customers worldwide and prevent a brutal blast of inflation.

Shortly before the U.S. stock market opened for trading Monday, President Donald Trump said on his social media network that “great progress has been made” with “A NEW, AND MORE REASONABLE, REGIME to end our Military Operations in Iran.”

But he also threatened the possibility of “blowing up and completely obliterating” Iranian power plants if a deal is not reached shortly and if the Strait of Hormuz, an integral waterway for the flow of oil, is not opened immediately.

The statement fit and condensed last week’s pattern, where Trump would tout progress being made in talks and offer some optimism for the market, only for doubts to rise quickly afterward about whether the war can end soon.

All the back and forth has some investors saying they’re giving Trump’s pronouncements less weight than before. But stock prices are nevertheless cheaper than they were before the war, which has some investors waiting for an opportune time to buy.

The S&P 500 is roughly 9% below its all-time high, which was set in January. The Dow and Nasdaq both finished last week more than 10% below their records, a steep-enough fall that professional investors call it a “correction.”

Taking into account how much profits are expected to grow in the coming year for companies in the S&P 500, the index looks roughly 17% cheaper than before the war, by one measure. That’s in a similar range as where prior growth scares for the market ended, as long as they didn’t result in a recession or the Federal Reserve hiking interest rates, according to strategists at Morgan Stanley.

That’s one of the signs that the strategists led by Michael Wilson point to as “growing evidence the S&P 500 correction is getting closer to its ending stages.”

Of course, the Federal Reserve could upset that if it decides oil prices are threatening to stay high for long enough that it needs to raise interest rates. Higher interest rates would help keep a lid on inflation, but they would also slow the economy and push down on prices for all kinds of investments.

Treasury yields have been leaping in the bond market since the war began because of such worries, but they eased somewhat on Monday.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.34% from 4.44% late Friday. That’s a significant move for the bond market and offers some breathing room for Wall Street. But it remains far above its 3.97% level from before the war.

On Wall Street, Sysco fell 15.5% to help lead the market lower after it said it was buying Jetro Restaurant Depot for $21.6 billion in cash and enough Sysco shares to value the company at about $29.1 billion.

Alcoa rose 6.5% for one of the market’s biggest gains on speculation it could get more business after attacks damaged rival aluminum facilities in the Middle East over the weekend.

In stock markets abroad, the FTSE 100 in London climbed 1.6%, and the CAC 40 in Paris rose 0.9%. That followed drops of 3% for Seoul’s Kospi, 2.8% for Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 and 0.8% for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng.

AP Business Writers Yuri Kageyama and Matt Ott and AP journalist Ayaka McGill contributed to this report.

This story has been corrected to show that the S&P 500 finished last week 8.7% below its record.

Christopher Lagana, left, and Dilip Patel work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Monday, March 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Bobby Charmak works on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Monday, March 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

People walk past the New York Stock Exchange, Friday, March 27, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

A general view shows the New York Stock Exchange, Friday, March 27, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Workers walk in an area at a degassing station in Zubair oil field, whose operations have being reduced due to the Mideast war triggered by the U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran, near Basra, Iraq, Saturday, March 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

A person walks by an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index in Tokyo Monday, March 30, 2026. (Yusuke Hashizume/Kyodo News via AP)

A dealer walks near the screens showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won and the Korean Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (KOSDAQ) at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, March 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Dealers work near the screens showing the foreign exchange rates at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, March 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Dealers work near the screens showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), right, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, March 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)