Written by Adrian Beecher
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Orlando, FL- Nick Banyard tied his career high with 18 points, while AJ Davis added a double-double to help to lead the Knights together to a 71-53 victory over the Tulsa Golden Hurricane Tuesday night. Things were back and forth early on, but in the second half, UCF pulled away and stayed dominate till the end. Here’s how it all went down at CFE Arena.
The Golden Hurricane won the tip and quickly got to work, as Junior Etou put in a layup after gaining an offensive rebound. Then it was UCF’s turn as Tacko Fall put in the bucket to tie it back up quickly. After a failed offensive possession by Tulsa, Nick Banyard hit a triple and then it was quickly answered. Banyard again hit another triple, and Matt Williams followed to make it 11-5 for the Knights with 15:50 left to play. After BJ Taylor had made 1 of two free throws to make it a 12-5 game, Tulsa was able to get things going. Corey Henderson Jr. put in a jumper and soon after Pat Birt followed suit with a triple to cut UCF’s lead to just 2 point’s. After a layup from Fall for UCF, both teams went 3 minutes without any scoring, before UCF hit back to back triples with one from Matt Williams and the other from A.J. Davis to give the Knights a 10 point lead. Jaleel Wheeler was able to halt the run for Tulsa with a layup to make it 20-12 with 7:58 left to play in the first half. The Knights were again able to put distance between them and the Golden Hurricane, in fact, with 5:06 left in the fist half, UCF was leading by 12 points. Then Tulsa’s Junior Etou hit a triple to start things. Then it was Pat Birt getting to the line hitting two and then a steal by Sterling Taplin and a layup for Birt that cut it to just a 5 point game at 26-21 with UCF leading. Determined to get back in this one, Tulsa kept fighting and were able to a 2 point game as Etou hit another triple and make it 29-27 with UCF on top. The Knights would add two free throws before the half as they went into the locker room with the 31-27 lead on Tulsa. Halfway through it was Matt Williams leading the charge for UCF with 10 points and three rebounds. The Golden Hurricane was being led by Junior Etou with 8 points and 4 rebounds with 6 of his eight points coming off triples. UCF started with the ball in the 2nd half, but it was Tulsa getting the first bucket of the game with a Martins Igbanu 3 pointer to cut it to a 1 score lead. Then after a bucket by UCF, it was Igbanu with a layup and a free throw picking up the foul on the play to tie things up a 33 with 18:08 left in regulation. Nick Banyard was able to hit back-to-back triples for UCF as he put them up 39-33, continuing where he left off in the first half. Then it was Sterling Taplin answering with a triple of his own to cut it to a 3-point game. After two minutes of scoreless basketball, it was Igbanu with two free throws to cut the lead to just one point with 13:57 let to play. After that, it was back to back trips to the free throw line as Fall hit 1 of two and AJ Davis hit two to make it 42-38 with 13:23 left in regulation. This was just the start of the onslaught as UCF opened up a 50-40 lead on the Golden Hurricane. Then Henderson hit a triple for Tulsa as they cut it to 7. As they went back and forth it was a 10-point game with 7:18 left to play with UCF leading 54-44. After struggling most of the game, BJ Taylor was able to get in on the action for UCF with a floater for two and then followed it up with a triple as UCF took a strong 13-point lead. Then it was AJ Davis with the scoop and score to make it 63-48 with 4:48 left to play, forcing Tulsa to take a timeout. Henderson ended the drought again, this time with two free throws. Then UCF added eight unanswered points to make it 71-50 with just 20 seconds left. However, Tulsa was able to put in a triple in the final second coming off the hands of Junior Etou. In the end, it was a dominating 71-53 win for the Knights as they improved to 16-10 on the season.
Written By: Erik Slaby
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(Orlando, FL) On a cool afternoon here in Orlando, at CFE Arena, the University of Connecticut Huskies defeated the University of Central Florida Knights, 66-63. It was a bit of a sloppy affair in the first half and for most of the second half it looked like Connecticut would win in a blowout fashion but UCF was able to come back and made the game close for the last five minutes.
In the first half, it seemed to take a while for both teams to find their footing as the first points of the game were not scored until the 16:53 mark. Connecticut started off with a 4-0 run before UCF countered with a 6-0 run. While the game was close for the majority of the first half, Connecticut closed the half with a 13-1 run. Connecticut was led by guard Rodney Purvis, who led all scorers with 17 points in the first half. Forward Kentan Facey also contributed with eight points. UCF forward Tank Efianaya led UCF with eight points. The biggest factor in Connecticut’s favor in the first half was that they 43% of their shots while UCF only made roughly 28% of their shots. In the second half, it looked like UCF was going to get blown out as Connecticut had taken a commanding 16 point lead with eight minutes left to play. However, UCF was able to go on an 11-0 run, highlighted by two massive dunks from guard A.J. Davis. Those two dunks brought crowd back into the game and the CFE Arena was rocking at that point. While UCF was able to get back in the game, it was too little, too late as Connecticut was able to close out the victory. Connecticut was led by Purvis who finished with 18 points, guards Jalen Adams and Christian Vital added 14 points apiece, Facey contributed 12 points and center Amida Brimah led the team in rebounds with 12. While Connecticut had 14 turnovers, they shot extremely well as they made nearly 70% of their three-point attempts and shot 44% from the field. They also made 64% of their free throw attempts. So all in all, a very good shooting night for Connecticut. UCF was led by guard B.J. Taylor who finished with 20 points, forward Nick Banyard added 13 points and Efianayi also added 10 points. Center Tacko Fall led the team in rebounds with 11. Even though UCF was able to get back into the game late in the second half, it was not enough to make up for their poor shooting and defensive woes. UCF shot a dreadful 26% from the three-point line and 34% from the field. On defense, they also left several Connecticut players wide open numerous times and allowed them to shoot uncontested shots. The majority of those shots were from the three-point line. UCF will have to improve defensively, as well as offensively, in order to have a chance to win the American Athletic Conference Tournament. UCF will need to fix these issues quickly as their next game is on February, 14th against the University of Tulsa Golden Hurricanes at 7PM EST here at CFE Arena. Connecticut travels back home to the XL Center to face the University of Memphis Tigers at 9PM EST.
Written by Adrian Beecher
![]() (Photo Credit: SaJorden Miller / The SkyBoat)
Houston, TX - Damyean Dotson had a career night for Houston as his 31 points, and seven triples led the Cougars to a dominating 82-64 win over UCF at the historic Hofheinz Pavilion. It was a close one early on with it just being a two-score game at the half, but foul trouble for UCF’s Tacko Fall and turnovers were the catalyst for the Knights in the end. Here’s how it all went down.
The Knights won the tip, and Tacko Fall got things started for them with a dunk to set the tone. After Danrad Knowles had hit one of two from the line for Houston, Matt Williams hit his first triple of the night for UCF to make it 5-1. Then two quick baskets from Houston tied it up before Matt Williams hit his 2nd triple. On the ensuing Knights possession, UCF’s Tacko Fall was called for a flagrant 1 foul for elbowing Houston’s Bertrand Nkali in the jaw, not intentionally, in any case. However, after Nkali hit both of his free throws, it started a 7-0 run by the Cougars as they took their first lead of the game. With 12:57 left in the first half it was 12-8 Houston as UCF missed 5 straight shot attempts. Then a flagrant 1 was called on Rob Gray of Houston, putting Nick Banyard at the line shooting two. He was able to hit one of two as the Knights cut it to a 3-point deficit. Then Damyean Dotson hit a triple to make it 15-9, giving the Coogs their biggest lead of the game to this point at 6. Chad Brown was then able to get things going again for the Knights with a basket and an and 1 that he was able to capitalize off of. This made it 15-12 with the Cougars on top. Then Dotson again hit from downtown to make it 18-12. Over a 5 and a half-minute period starting with 15:19 left in the 1st half, Dotson put in 13 straight points for Houston. This made it 20-15 Houston with 9:33 left in the first half. Then the tempo picked up, with BJ Taylor for UCF and Galen Robinson Jr. for Houston trading jumpers. Matt Williams again hit from downtown to make it 22-20 with Houston still on top. Then Houston was able to extend their lead to 6 with 4:53 left in the first half. UCF then got things going with a 7-0 run to regain the lead at 27-26 with a 4th triple from Matt Williams. Houston was able to respond, and Robinson immediately gave the Coogs the lead back with 2:41 left to play on a jumper. UCF was able to tie it back up, but Houston took a 32-30 lead into the locker room at the half. Houston’s Daymean Dotson lead the way in the first half for Houston with 15 points, while it was Matt Williams for the Knights with 15 points as well. The two were dominant from beyond the arc with 7 combined triples, 4 from Williams and 3 from Dotson. Williams continued his scoring barrage in the 2nd half with a quick jumper to tie the game up at 32. Then the Cougars answered with a triple from Galen Robinson Jr. to regain the lead. Tacko Fall would then slam home a dunk before the Cougars started to pull away from the Knights. Houston then went on a 9-2 scoring run to take a 44-36 lead with 15:15 left to play in the 2nd half. The run was helped by two back-to-back triples from Damyean Dotson. After BJ Taylor hit a jumper to make it a 6 point game at 46-40, Houston again was able to work from behind the arc, this time it was Wes Vanbeck to make it 49-40. After a free throw and another triple from Dotson, the Coogs led 53-40 with 12:21 left to play. UCF would continue to fight back as BJ Taylor hit a triple and Matt Williams added a jumper to cut it to just an 8 point deficit with 11:07 left in the game. However, then Dotson hit his 7th triple of the game, and Wes Vanbeck followed it up with a jumper for the Coogs to again extend their lead back to 13. Williams would answer for UCF with his 5th triple of the game to make it 58-48 with Houston still leading and 8:48 left to play. Then things got out of hand. Houston went on an 8-0 scoring run that was capped with two triples, one from Rob Gray and one from Wes Vanbeck. This made it 66-48 with 6:37 left to play. AJ Davis was able to halt the run with two free throws to cut it to a 16-point game with 5:15 left to play. Despite their efforts, the Knights weren’t able to close the gap down the stretch. The closest they would get was 13 points, which came with 2:45 left in regulation on a layup and free throw after a foul on the shot from BJ Taylor. After that, it was none other than Damyean Dotson hitting a layup and then on the Coogs next possession hitting two free throws to extend the lead back to 17 for Houston with 2:17 left on the clock. As the final buzzer sounded, it was an 82-64 victory for the Cougars over UCF. In the end it was a career night for redshirt senior Damyean Dotson as he finished with a career-high 31 points and a career high 3-point buckets with 7. He finished the night making 11 of 16 shots, including 7 of 12 from downtown. UCF’s leader on the court was once again Matt Williams, who finished with 26 points and made 5 triples. However, it was not nearly enough to overcome another dismal performance in the turnover category for UCF. The Knights finished with 14 turnovers, to just 7 from Houston. Despite a 4 game losing streak, all is nowhere near lost for UCF. They have a solid 14-8 record and anything can happen in the AAC tournament. Knights head coach Johnny Dawkins said after the game that the message to the team is to focus on getting things fixed and staying together as a team. “We’re still going to be a most together group. That’s what we tried to establish when we came here, we’re going to be a together group. We’re not going to make excuses, and we’re not going to have alibis. We’re just going to figure out how to get better and figure out how we’re gonna win. So we said that’s who we are. In the meeting after the game, I said hey look, no excuses, no alibis. So we have to find a way to get it done, and we have to find a way to get it done together.” said Dawkins. After playing their last two games on the road, UCF will now head back home for a tough matchup against Memphis (16-6), who is 4th in the conference right now. In the last matchup between these two, it went down to the wire, with Memphis outlasting UCF 70-65 in Memphis. Tipoff is set for 5 pm EST Saturday, February 4th on ESPN News at CFE Arena in Orlando.
Written by Adrian Beecher
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Orlando, FL- It's Coaches for Cancer week around college basketball, and coaches from both UCF and SMU took part supporting the cause Wednesday night. Both teams coaching staffs were wearing tennis shoes to show their supports for Coaches for Cancer. One of the additional things that coaches are doing this week is wearing golden laces to support the Lace up for Lacey cause.
UCF men’s basketball head coach Johnny Dawkins gave his thoughts on taking part in the cause after his game against SMU Wednesday night in Orlando, “I think in both cases, it's hugely important. Lacey and also Coaches for Cancer are two things that we stand for. I think we have to be responsible as leaders in the community, as coaches, teachers, mentors. All the things above that we represent. I think that we have to show displays of things that are important to us and important to our society. For us to be able to grab ahold of these ideals, that’s what we try to do. So I’m proud to wear them, of course, like all the coaches around the country are this time of year.”
Coaches for Cancer is a nationwide collaboration between the American Cancer Society and the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) that empowers basketball coaches, their teams, and local communities to make an impact on a disease that affects the entire world. From January 23rd until January 29th it is Suits and Sneakers week, which entails coaches wearing sneakers as a visible reminder about the seriousness of nutrition and physical activity and the impact that it can have in reducing cancer risk. You can find out more about the cause here.
Lace up for Lacey is a movement in which teams are honoring late Spartan basketball fan Lacey Holsworth, also know as Princess Lacey, who tragically lost her battle with Cancer in April of 2014 at the age of 8. However, this was after she solidified a bond and a friendship with Adreian Payne, center for the Michigan State Spartans. Lacey was able to attend that year’s Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament and was able to cut the net down with Adreian. Lacey was diagnosed with stage IV Neuroblastoma, which paralyzed her from the waist down within 48 hours of being diagnosed.
The Golden Laces that are worn by the coaches can be purchased as Shoe Carnival, and proceeds benefit the non-profit initiative, Princess Lacey’s Legacy.
Written by Adrian Beecher
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Orlando, FL- Despite a 22-point performance from BJ Taylor and Tacko Fall’s 9th double-double of the season, UCF Fell to the SMU Mustangs 65-60 in a hard fought battle at CFE Arena. Leading the way for SMU was Shake Milton and Ben Moore, who combined for 33 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists in the win. Here’s how it all went down.
Tacko Fall got things started for the Knights with a slam-dunk that caused his goggles to lose their lenses. Despite the excitement, it didn’t take long for SMU to start rolling as Ben Moore and Shake Milton got things going for the Mustangs with two quick baskets to give them a 4-2 lead on UCF. However, then the UCF 3 point show started. Tank Efianayai hit the first, and then Matt Williams followed it up with another triple from the same area from the top right of the three-point line. This made it 8-6 UCF with 15:29 left in the 1st half. After the under 16 minute timeout, the Mustangs got a quick basket, and then Matt William drilled two more triples to make it 14-10. After Williams had hit his 4th triple of the night, Tacko Fall followed that up with two back-to-back blocks on the ensuing possession as UCF led 19-14 with 10:02 left in the 1st half. Then things started to turn in favor of the Mustangs as they went on a 9-0 run over the next 3 and a half minutes to take a 23-19 lead on UCF. They would extend it to an 11-0 run before the Knights would add two free throws from Williams to stop the run. Taylor would add two free throws for the Knights to cut it to a 2-point game with 4:43 left to play in the half. Then the Mustangs flexed their will down the stretch, going on a 10-3 run to take a 35-26 lead into the locker room. Halfway through it was Semi Ojeleye leading the way for SMU with 11 points and 4 rebounds. For UCF it was Matt Williams with 14 points. However, all of those 14 points came in the first 10 minutes of the game. SMU was also dominating on the boards with 21 to UCF’s 14 and 8 of the Mustangs first-half rebounds were offensive. The Mustangs continued where there left off in the first half, getting the first basket of the 2nd half with a dunk from Ben Moore. The Knights followed that up with a dunk of their own as Tacko Fall slammed it in to make it 37-28. Then both teams traded triples as BJ Taylor got in on the action for the Knights from behind the arc. Taylor then added a layup which he was fouled on and was able to connect on the and 1 to make it just a 6 point game with 17:02 left in the half. Shortly after, UCF was able to cut the deficit to just 4 points as Fall connected on a layup and Taylor hit a jumper to make it 42-38 with the Mustangs still out in front with 14:53 left in the half. After that, it was once again the Mustangs pulling away from the Knights as Sterling Brown hit a triple and Moore added a layup to once again extend their lead to 9 with 13:58 left in regulation. With BJ Taylor leading the way for the Knights, they were able to cut it to just a 5 point deficit with 9:48 left in the 2nd half as Taylor hit a layup and connected on the and 1 from the foul. Then things started to tighten up even more as Shake Milton hit a triple or SMU and Taylor followed suit for the Knights immediately to keep it a 5-point game with 9:11 left to play. Then Milton added another triple for the Mustangs as they extended their lead back to 8. Shortly after, Efianayi put in a layup to cut it to 6 points for UCF and then quickly Tacko Fall added his 8th rebound and a dunk to cut it to just a 4 point game with under 5 minutes to play. Down the stretch, things would get very interesting, with neither teams wanting to concede. After Shake Milton had hit a jumper with 4:12 left to play to make it a 6-point game, the next two minutes saw just one basket as Ben Moore would get a layup for SMU and the Knights continued to struggle to get anything going. Then with 1:29 left on the clock, BJ Taylor hit a deep two to make it a 6-point game. After a failed possession from SMU, Knight got the rebound and quickly moved down the court as BJ Taylor went inside and hit a fade away jumper to make it just a 4 point game with 48 seconds left to play. Then Shake Milton hit both of his free throws before BJ Taylor threw an alley-oop to Tacko Fall who slammed it home for the Knights to once again make it a 4-point game. SMU would then connect on their 2 free throw and BJ Taylor would answer with a quick layup to make it a 4 point game once again with 21 seconds left on the clock. Milton would only hit one of two free throws on his next trip. This made it 65-60 as the Knights quickly moved up the court and BJ Taylor would miss his layup attempt, giving the ball back to SMU with 3 seconds left. Fall would attempt to foul, but the refs wouldn’t call it, and the final buzzer sounded sealing the 5-point loss for UCF. The Knights would end the game with 15 turnovers to just 7 from SMU. Matt Williams would finish the night 0-6 after starting 4 of 6, scoring 14 points in the first 10 minutes of the game. The Knights drop to 14-6 on the season as they look ahead to a 2 game road trip starting with Tulsa on the 28th and then a trip to Houston on February 1st before coming back to CFE Arena for a meeting with Memphis on February 4th. |
UCF's Men's Basketball
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