The Knights started off the evening with a good pace after getting the 1st basket of the game. With 5 minutes expired in the 1st half, UCF had jumped out to a 8-2 lead over Houston. The Cougars were able to get the game tied up after 3 quick baskets to make it 8 all.
With 7:07 left to play in the 1st half, it looked as if we were going to have a good ole fashioned shootout at CFE Arena with UCF was leading 22-21. That’s when Houston went on a 16-3 run to end the first half as the confidence of the Knights was shattered. At the half the Cougars were leading 37-25.
A.J. Davis was leading the way for UCF with 8 points at the half. While on the Cougars side of the ball, it was Damyean Dotson with 12 points.
In the 2nd half, the beat down continued as the Cougars kept up their 1st half pace with a 20-4 run. This made it 60-29 with 12:50 to play.
The Knights were able to keep pace after the big run with Houston, but they were unable to cut into the lead. UCF had 13 total turnovers in the game compared to the Cougars 8, and their big man Tacko Fall had just 1 rebound the entire game.
After the game, UCF head coach Donnie Jones talked about his team’s struggles “Confidence is something our team is really struggling with right now, as you can see from the second half. It was 22-21 and we get off to a good start. A couple of tough plays don’t go our way and we just got our self down and we have to push through.”
With the loss, UCF falls to 11-15 on the year and 5-19 in conference play. They will look to build some confidence ahead of the AAC tournament with 3 games remaining on the schedule. Their next test comes this Saturday, February 27th at Temple.