Jan. 20, 2005
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) - Mike Bell scored 24 points and Florida Atlantic twice held off second-half rallies to upset UCF 73-61 on Thursday night.
FAU (4-12, 4-5 Atlantic Sun Conference) snapped a six-game losing streak to UCF and ended a three-game skid while the Golden Knights (12-5, 5-4) saw their four-game winning streak end.
Troy Lindbeck's second straight three-pointer tied the game for UCF at 45-all with 11:08 remaining, but a free throw and a basket by Robert Williams gave the lead back to the Owls, who never again gave it up.
UCF would cut the lead back to 55-53, but Bell - who also had seven rebounds - hit three straight buckets to put the Owls up by eight. The Golden Knights never got closer than six points thereafter.
Anthony Williams led UCF with 15 points and 10 rebounds, while Marcus Avant and Josh Peppers scored 12 and 11 points, respectively, for the Knights, who shot just 37 percent and committed 16 turnovers.
Pierre Tucker added 15 points for FAU.
Poor shooting and an effective man-to-man defense by FAU kept UCF behind throughout most of the first half. The Knights shot juts 30 percent in the half and trailed 35-28 at halftime.