Arizona found itself locked in the tightest game of the season Thursday night in its opening contest of the three-day Wooden Legacy event in Anaheim, California. The night ended with Nico Mannion's first signature moment with the Wildcats. The freshman point guard floated in a running hook shot with under five seconds in a tie game against Pepperdine to lift Arizona to a 93-91 victory over the Waves.

"Nico, what a great coast-to-coast play for a freshman," Sean Miller told reporters after the game. "He shot like a true hook shot there at the end, but that's who he is. He's made a lot of game winners in his day. That's what great guards do, and for him to take the ball full court like that and make that shot that was a big moment for us."

Mannion was one of four UA players to finish with at least 16 points as the Wildcats moved to 7-0 on the year setting up a semifinal matchup with Penn set for Friday night.

UA was in a battle all night long and eventually the game featured 24 lead changes and the teams were tied 13 different times over the course of the 40 minutes at Anaheim Arena.

The teams combined for 100 points in the second half with 15 3-pointers between them over that span. The game was reminiscent of the last time the Wildcats took part in the Wooden Legacy event as Pepperdine had an answer for every UA run.

Miller's team asserted itself on the offensive end down the stretch with contributions throughout the roster including some big shots from senior guard Dylan Smith who ended up with 13 of his 16 points coming in the second half.

Freshman Josh Green carried the team early on and he continued that progress into the second half as he finished his first game away from McKale Center with 24 points including four 3-pointers. He also had eight rebounds and five assists.

"We certainly weren't at our best tonight," Miller said. "First time away from McKale. I thought the three freshmen were all outstanding in their own right. I'm talking about Nico, Josh and Zeke [Nnaji]. You know what, all three had many learning opportunities here tonight – being away from home, late-game situations and some ill-advised turnovers. Different things.

"November is really an opportunity for every team to get better and learn and grow. If you could steal a win, that's maybe how I would describe tonight. Not that we didn't deserve it but that game could have gone either way. I think it makes it a little bit better to be able to learn these types of lessons from a game like tonight and still having won."

Now the Wildcats find themselves in the semifinals of the Wooden Legacy event with a game against Penn Friday night. The Quakers beat UCF 68-67 Thursday night to set up the 9:30 p.m. MST meeting at Anaheim Arena.