By: Jetta Rose
Orlando FL- Just over a week after these two teams previously faced off on Houstons home court, the UCF Knights immediately started to dominate the Houston Cougars in the first ten minutes leading 20-6. Houston took the win on Feb 22 with a shootout at their home court 88-84 and now UCF has started a blowout on the blacktop in the first half reclaiming what they hope is a strong comeback game win.
UCF kept a strong lead throughout the first half starting with a layup by forward Staphon Blair, which was followed by a 3ptr by Guard Isaac Lang. Houston, missed three 3ptr attempts in the first four minutes leaving the cougars to take their first timeout. UCF Isaiah Sykes turned it over atunder the 18-minute mark by a steal from Houstons TaShawn Thomas.
The domination by UCF against Houston continued when Center Justin McBride making two layups in a row in under a 60 second play. The blowout by the knights persisted in the first half with a lead by 18 points and 17 3ptrs. The knights kept the lead with some strong shots made by some key players in the offense. You can see the fight in these knights every time they put up the ball.
Houston starts off the second half with a foul made by Danard Knowles, while UCF took advantage of the cougars downfall with a free throw made by forward Kasey Wilson. Not to worry though the Houston cougars came back with a smooth layup by L.J Rose. Houston continues to put up a strong fight but the Knights just have them sweating in their sneaks. It doesn’t help that in less than 19 minutes UCF Tristan Spurlock makes an undeniably dominant dunk with assistance from Isaiah Sykes.
In the second half UCF continued to lead with fierce playand strong shots. With just under 14 minutes on the clock the Knights had a 15-point lead and maintained a consistent lead once again. Houstons strong point was there lead guard L.J Rose with 13 points alone in his name and he wasn’t far behind UCF Isaiah Sykes with a strong 19-point carry. No matter how many comebacks the Cougars made,the Knights always maintained a strong lead by at least 10 points or more at a time.
The Houston Cougars were constantly playing catch up as the UCF Knights forcefully maintained a lead in every minute of the game. No matter how many minutes were on the clock the Knights held their own and took chances on plays that were continuously worth it. With the advantage of being the home team with an arena full of fans, the UCFKnights made their fans proud. This blowout ended with the Knights for the win 104-84. What a game between these two teams, the Houston Cougars gave it there all but in the end the UCF Knights owned this game.