Final Stats
Nov. 18, 2004
FAIRBANKS, Ak. - Anthony Williams scored a game-high 21 points Thursday and Will Bakanowsky added 13 as UCF defeated host Alaska Fairbanks 74-63 in the opening round of the BP Top of the World Classic. Williams, a junior college transfer playing in his first game for the Golden Knights also led UCF with six rebounds.
UCF (1-0) led by as many as nine in the first half, but could not take advantage of a cold shooting Alaska Fairbanks (2-1) squad and saw the Nanooks cut the margin to three (26-23) at intermission. UCF shot 44 percent from the floor in the first half, compared to 29 percent for UAF.
Ivan Miskovic's basket to start the second half cut UCF's margin to one before the Golden Knights went on a 17-0 run over the next four minutes. Bakanowsky was responsible for five of the 17 points with a three-pointer and a pair of free throws, while Marcus Avant and Kingsley Edwards also added shots behind the arc.
UCF held its largest lead of 23 points with 7:30 remaining in the contest before UAF used a 21-6 run to trim the margin to eight with 2:50 remaining. During that stretch the Nanooks' Chris Smith knocked down four three-pointers, including one on three consecutive trips down the floor en route to scoring a team-high 20 points.
UCF hit six consecutive free throws down the stretch in the final 2:40 to hold off the Nanooks. The Golden Knights shot 52 percent from the field for the game, while UAF used a strong second half to elevate its field goal percentage to 40. UCF outrebounded UAF 34 to 26 and committed four fewer turnovers.
UCF will play at 4 p.m. Eastern Saturday against Utah State.