KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The UCF men’s basketball team looks to continue its momentum into Wednesday after leading by as many as 27 in Tuesday’s 77-62 win over Oklahoma State in the first round of the Phillips 66 Big 12 Conference Championship. The Knights draw No. 20/21 BYU, the tournament’s No. 5 seed, for a 12:30 p.m. ET tip.
The Cougars earned a bye for being the fifth seed in the tournament, while UCF played on day one of the tournament. The Knights used a 13-0 run out of the halftime locker room against the Cowboys to put essentially put the game out of reach early in the second half. It was the second time this season the Black and Gold had beaten Oklahoma State, the other being a 77-71 win in Stillwater back on Feb. 28.
Ibrahima Diallo earned his fourth double-double of the season and seventh of his career with a career-high 17-point night while adding 11 rebounds, three steals and two blocks. C.J. Walker added 12 points, using a pair of three-pointers to account for half his points. He now has made six of his eight three-pointers this season in the last five games.
UCF turned the ball over just seven times against Oklahoma State, the second lowest total of the campaign. The Knights also limited the Cowboys’ trips to the charity stripe at just 11, the second-lowest amount surrendered to an opponent this season.
UCF will look to solve the puzzle that is BYU, as the Cougars have barely snuck away with a pair of victories over the Knights this season, winning by a combined seven points across the two matchups.
The first meeting between the two sides this season, which doubled as the first meeting in program history, went BYU’s way with a 63-58 final. UCF was down by just two at the half in that tilt, but saw BYU expand the lead to 13 with 7:17 to go in the game. The Knights whittled away at the deficit and pulled it all the way back to within one at 59-58 with two minutes to go but couldn’t overcome the double-digit Cougar lead. Ibrahima Diallo had an 11-point, 19 rebound double-double in the game while UCF as a team only shot 29.3% from the field.
The second meeting once again saw BYU build a double-digit lead as the Cougars hung 10 points on the Knights before UCF could find a point. The Black and Gold chopped the deficit down to four but saw it jump back up to 13 by the break. BYU built a lead as high as 19 points in the second half, but the Knights were able to rally back and get within striking distance at the end, falling 90-88 in Provo.
The winner of Wednesday’s matchup at T-Mobile Center will advance to play fourth-seeded Texas Tech, who currently ranks 25th in the AP Poll and 23rd in the Coaches Poll. The advancing side will clash with the Red Raiders, who earned a double-bye in the tournament, for a 12:30 p.m. ET tip.