Similar to UCF’s quarterfinal game, Johnson was first on the scoreboard, sinking a layup and a triple to get UCF out to a 5-0 edge. Dallan ‘Deebo’ Coleman was hot early as well, hitting two three pointers in the first three and a half minutes as UCF took a 13-7 lead.
The contest remained close for much of the first half. Jordan Ivy-Curry hit a triple with 13:09 left in the frame to go up 23-17, but Villanova hung around and cut it back to one. A funky deflection later acted as an assist for Dior Johnson in the corner who sunk a wide-open triple to put the Knights in front 28-24 with 9:42 remaining. Following that, Villanova jumped in front for its only lead of the first half after a 5-0 run.
Unphased, the Knights jumped back on top the next possession as Dior drove the lane, followed by another Johnson triple a few turns later. UCF built a lead as high as eight in the home stretch of the opening half, leading 48-40 with 1:44 to go. The Wildcats scored the final four points of the stanza as the Knights led 48-44 at the break, just one point shy of tying the squad’s most points in a first half this season.
Darius and Coleman stuffed the statsheet in the first, as Darius went to the locker room with 19 points, including a pair of triples and nine points from the charity stripe. Darius climbed the ranks of UCF’s all-time scorers, leaping over Isaiah Sykes (1,545 points from 2010-14) into eighth place. Coleman’s two early triples powered him to 10 points in the first, securing his fourth double-digit performance this season. Eight triples dropped for the Knights in the first, compared to just three for Villanova. The Knights limited the nation’s leading scorer, Eric Dixon, to just one made field goal on seven attempts in the first half, scoring all seven of his points from the free throw line.
The second half started with Villanova trimming the lead to just two after a pair of free throws. Coleman had the Knights’ first three points out of the break. The next trip down the floor, the ball was clanking around in the UCF offensive end similar to the likes of how a ball ricochets around a roulette wheel. It eventually found Coleman, who picked the right number, passing it to a wide open Tyler Hendricks who nailed the triple to balloon the lead back to eight at 54-46.
The Knights kept pushing, trying to stretch the lead to double digits. They did so for an extended amount of time, first getting there as Moustapha Thiam came flying in for a two-handed slam followed by a fastbreak triple from Darius for UCF’s largest lead of the game at 64-53 with 14:59 left in the game. The Knights tried to keep it at double-digits, leading 68-58 with 12:52 still showing. Villanova’s Dixon kept his squad in it, contributing eight points to a 10-2 Wildcat run, trimming UCF’s lead to just two with 8:38 to play.
Four points from the charity stripe, a pair each from Ivy-Curry and Darius briefly pushed the lead back up to six, but a 9-0 Villanova run gave the Wildcats a three point lead that was eventually built to six on the back of a 15-3 stretch, making it an 83-77 Villanova edge with 2:39 to play.
As has been the case all season long, the Knights showed no quit. Darius again was on the scene, getting a layup to go to cut the lead to four. Almost a full minute later with 1:06 to go, Hendricks slashed the lead to two with a jumper. Villanova answered with a make with 36 seconds to play, but Thiam answered with a dunk with 24 ticks left, extending the game. UCF had to play the foul game, surrendering two free throws that were matched by an Ivy-Curry layup with 14 seconds to go.
The foul game played into UCF’s favor, as Villanova made just one of two from the charity stripe, making it 88-85 and giving the Knights a shot to push the game into overtime.
With it possibly being his final game in a UCF uniform, a play was dialed up for Darius, who got an open look from deep. With nine seconds left, his sky-scraping shot barely touched net on the way through the rim, swishing a triple to tie the game at 88. Villanova didn’t call a timeout, going down the court and trying to win it in regulation, but couldn’t convert, sending the Crown semifinal to overtime.
