The UCF Knights Mens Basketball hosted the Tulsa Golden Hurricanes Saturday night at Addition Financial Arena in Orlando, FL for their Space Game.  The Knights came in to the contest on a one game win streak which ended a 5 game losing streak.  Their 14-9 overall record and 5-6 conference record placed them 6th, right in the middle of the American Conference.  The Golden Hurricanes have struggled all season to find their way.  They entered with a 5-18 overall record 1-11 conference(last in the American Conference), and 0-9 on the road.

Donning their Space Game uniforms, UCF started sluggish and found themselves trailing 8-16 at the 14:34 mark after Tulsa rattled off 11 unanswered points.  A big 3 point shot by Taylor Hendricks ended the Knights scoring drought  and seemed to light a fuse for the rest of the team.  

UCF went a scoring run of their own capped off by one of Ithiel Horton’s six three pointers on the night to put the Knights in the lead 22-20 at the 10:30 mark of the first half.  Tulsa tied the game at 22 on their next possession with a jumper by Sam Griffin.  The Knights quickly responded when Thierno Sylla hit a three pointer to put his team back in the lead for good.

For the remainder of the game, the Knights turned in a strong overall performance fueled by great team defense and a new team record of 17 3-pointers made.  The Knights featured 5 players in double digit scoring.  Ithiel Horton led the way for UCF with 20 points and 6 of 11 from the arc.  True freshman, Taylor Hendricks, had a solid game posting 18 points 6 rebounds and 2 blocks.  Point guard Darius Johnson put up a double-double of 13 points and 10 assists.   

With the win, UCF improves to 15–9 overall 6-6 AAC and will travel to face a hot Memphis team on Thursday, Feb 16 at 8 p.m.  Memphis is 18-6 overall 8-3 AAC which is currently 3rd in the conference and has won 6 of their last 7 games since losing in double OT to UCF.   Tulsa will look to bounce back at home on Wednesday, Feb 15 at 8 p.m. against USF.

STATS

ATTENDANCE: 6,731

UCF:  96 pts, 37-67 2-PT, 17-36 3-PT, 5-6 FT, 32 rebs(14 off, 28 def), 28 assists, 3 TO, 4 steals, 14 pts fast break, 22 pts off TO, 32 pts in paint

Tulsa: 52 pts, 19-52 2-PT, 5-24 3-PT, 9-17 FT, 34 rebs(14 off, 20 def), 9 assists, 16 TO, 1 steals, 3 pts fast break, 2 pts off TO, 20 pts in paint

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

UCF: I. Horton 20 pts 6/11 3-PT, T. Hendricks 18 pts 6 rebs 2 blocks, D. Johnson 13 pts 10 assists, Kelly 12 pts 5 assists, T. Sylla 10 pts 6 rebs

Tulsa: B. Selebangue 11 pts 10 rebs, S. Griffin 10 pts, t. Daiger 7 pts 6 rebs

Photo credit: Julian Bright