Men's Hoops to Reunite with Cincinnati in College Basketball Crown Quarterfinals

ORLANDO – The UCF men's basketball team will reunite with a familiar foe in the second round of the College Basketball Crown, facing Cincinnati on Thursday for the right to advance to the semfinals at T-Mobile Arena.

GAME INFORMATION
Date: Tuesday, April 3, 2025
Time: 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT
Location: Las Vegas, Nev.; MGM Grand Garden Arena
TV: FS1
TV Talent: Gus Johnson (PxP), Jim Jackson (Analyst), Allison Williams (Sideline)
Radio: FM 96.9/AM 740 The Game
Radio Talent: Marc Daniels (PxP)

KNIGHT NOTES

• UCF earned a thrilling 76-75 victory over Oregon State in the first round of the College Basketball Crown, using a defensive stand on the game’s final possession to secure the victory. A trio of Knights scored 15 points in the win, two of which were career-high point totals for Tyler Hendricks and Nils Machowski; Darius Johnson also had 15 points. Hendricks hauled in a career-best 10 rebounds for his first double-double. Johnson’s six-game streak of 20+ points was snapped in the contest. Moustapha Thiam nearly had his fourth double-double in his last seven games, scoring 10 points with nine rebounds, seven of which were on the offensive end.
• The win over Oregon State guarantees UCF a season of a record greater than .500 for the fourth straight campaign, something that Coach Dawkins has now accomplished twice in his nine seasons with UCF. A coach other than Dawkins hadn’t had four straight winning seasons since Kirk Speraw did it from 2001-02 to 2004-05.
• Johnson tied the program record for most postseason games played with 12 in UCF’s Division I history, tying BJ Taylor who appeared in a combined 12 conference tournament and postseason games in his tenure.
• The College Basketball Crown berth marks the fifth time in Dawkins' nine seasons that UCF will take part in a postseason tournament. UCF’s trip to the inaugural College Basketball Crown is the third consecutive postseason appearance; the Knights were in the NIT the past two seasons, which included a win at Florida in the 2023 NIT. The appearance in the Crown will mark Dawkins’ 10th postseason appearance as a head coach over his 17 seasons.
• UCF’s first round College Basketball Crown victory over Oregon State was the first game and first win in the month of April in program history. The previous latest game on the calendar in program history was UCF’s NIT semifinals appearance against TCU on March 28, 2017.
• With the win over Oregon State, Coach Dawkins has now won seven of his last nine contests against the Beavers and improves to 11-7 overall against them as a collegiate head coach. It was UCF’s first matchup against Oregon State.
• The Knights have been one of the nation’s best from the charity stripe, entering the College Basketball Crown quarterfinals ranking 14th in free throws made per game and 23rd in free throw percentage. As a team, UCF has already set a program record for made free throws in a season with 591 and are on pace to set a record for the highest single season free throw percentage, entering the Crown at 77.6%, needing to beat 2022-23’s 77.1%.
• With the win over Oregon State, UCF has secured the program’s single season points record with 2,693, topping the previous best of 2,617 accomplished in 1979-80. The mark is UCF’s highest point total in a season in the program’s Division I era, as UCF’s last year in Division II was the 1983-84 campaign.
• UCF earned 10 or more three-pointers for the 14th time this season against Oregon State, hitting 10 or more threes in four of its last five games after not doing so for the entire month of February. The streak including tying a season-high 14 made threes vs. Kansas in the second round of the Big 12 Championship. The Black and Gold have knocked down a program record 296 three pointers this season, reaching the mileston during the College Basketball Crown first round. The mark tops the 295 made triples during the 2022-23 season.

THE MATCHUP

• Despite this being the 24th meeting between the two sides, there has only been one neutral site contest between the two, a 61-58 Bearcats win in 2014. The Knights are looking to snap Cincinnati's five-game winning streak against them.

SCOUTING CINCINNATI

• Cincinnati trailed for only three minutes early, led by 10 at the half and stayed ahead by double-digits all the way for an 83-61 win over DePaul to open Crown play. The Bearcats’ defense saw six assists and 19 turnovers, the largest difference of the four-year Wes Miller tenure.
• The Bearcats had six players in double-figures for the first time since the season-opener, led by Dillon Mitchell with 15 points, seven rebounds, three steals and three assists. Aziz Bandaogo also had 11, putting UC at 9-2 (and 15-3 over his two years) when he scores in double-digits.
• Halvine Dzellat, a freshman from France who joined the team in September and played 16 minutes all year, played 15 against DePaul, including his first-career field goal in the first half. RS freshman Rayvon Griffith also appeared in a
  career-high 16 minutes.
• Dan Skillings has scored in double-figures thrice out of the last four games, his first time doing that since Jan. 7-18. He was UC’s leading scorer in 2023-24 at 12.8 ppg.
• Cincinnati shot 42.9 percent from long range, the fifth time since the Feb. 8 win against BYU it was above 40. Prior to that, it had been Nov. 23 in the blowout victory at Georgia Tech.
• The Bearcats are seeking their 42nd, 20-win season. They are 17-2 when leading at the half and 2-12 when trailing.
• UC is third in the Big 12 in turnovers (10.3 per game) and margin (2.9). The Bearcats are 13-2 when scoring 70 or more points.
• Cincinnati is 26th nationally in scoring defense at 65.6 ppg. It was 68th in its first Big 12 season last year.