UCF Athletic Communications
ORLANDO (UCFKnights.com) – The UCF men’s basketball team shot 61.5 percent in the second half and held William & Mary to 35.2 percent shooting for the game, improving to 3-0 on the season with a 75-64 victory at CFE Arena Saturday afternoon.
The Knights trailed by one point at the break, and continued to fight off the Tribe throughout the start of the second half, holding onto a 47-46 lead with 11:34 to play. That’s when two free throws by senior A.J. Davis ignited an 8-1 run to put UCF ahead for good.
As always, the Black and Gold got it done on defense, making six straight stops during the stretch. Following a William & Mary three-pointer, Chance McSpadden and Tacko Fall scored nine straight UCF points to extend the lead to double digits for the first time and the Knights cruised to the 75-64 win.
“This was a good test for us. They're a really good team from the standpoint of how they execute,” UCF head coach Johnny Dawkins said. “They run one of those systems that are difficult to guard. I thought our guys, being as this is the first time they've seen a team play that way, defended it well and I think we won this game because we defended well.”
The Knights also played well on offense though, shooting 16-of-26 from the field in the second half and 5-of-9 from three-point range after shooting just 33.3 percent from the floor and 0-of-8 from beyond the arc in the first 20 minutes.
UCF is now out to a 3-0 start for the second straight year under Dawkins. Last season the Knights defeated Nicholls, Mississippi State and Charleston before falling to No. 3 Villanova in the championship of the Charleston Classic.
The Knights aim to open up the 2017-18 campaign 4-0 when they take on Nebraska on Thanksgiving in the first game of the AdvoCare Invitational at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports. It would mark the program’s first 4-0 start since the 2010-11 season.
The Knights trailed by one point at the break, and continued to fight off the Tribe throughout the start of the second half, holding onto a 47-46 lead with 11:34 to play. That’s when two free throws by senior A.J. Davis ignited an 8-1 run to put UCF ahead for good.
As always, the Black and Gold got it done on defense, making six straight stops during the stretch. Following a William & Mary three-pointer, Chance McSpadden and Tacko Fall scored nine straight UCF points to extend the lead to double digits for the first time and the Knights cruised to the 75-64 win.
“This was a good test for us. They're a really good team from the standpoint of how they execute,” UCF head coach Johnny Dawkins said. “They run one of those systems that are difficult to guard. I thought our guys, being as this is the first time they've seen a team play that way, defended it well and I think we won this game because we defended well.”
The Knights also played well on offense though, shooting 16-of-26 from the field in the second half and 5-of-9 from three-point range after shooting just 33.3 percent from the floor and 0-of-8 from beyond the arc in the first 20 minutes.
UCF is now out to a 3-0 start for the second straight year under Dawkins. Last season the Knights defeated Nicholls, Mississippi State and Charleston before falling to No. 3 Villanova in the championship of the Charleston Classic.
The Knights aim to open up the 2017-18 campaign 4-0 when they take on Nebraska on Thanksgiving in the first game of the AdvoCare Invitational at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports. It would mark the program’s first 4-0 start since the 2010-11 season.