March 16, 2005
ORLANDO - The UCF men's basketball team practiced on Wednesday morning for the final time at home before departing for its first round NCAA Tournament game against Connecticut in Worcester, Mass.
The Golden Knights, seeded 15th in the Syracuse Regional, leave for New England on Wednesday evening. The team will face the defending national champion Huskies, the second seed in the regional, on Friday afternoon.
Head coach Kirk Speraw's squad has practiced each day since Sunday. The team last played on March 5 in the Atlantic Sun Championship final against Gardner-Webb.
After nearly two weeks without a game, UCF's players are ready to get back to action.
"We are real anxious," said senior Kingsley Edwards. "We have had four good practices this week. But it has been a long wait."
UCF will practice at the DCU Center in Worcester on Thursday afternoon, starting at 1 p.m. Thursday's practice session is open to the general public.
The Huskies return five players who competed in last season's national championship game against Georgia Tech. In the 2004 NCAA Tournament, UCF faced Pittsburgh in the first round.
The four Golden Knights who saw time in that contest know that their experience will only help as they prepare to face a program that has two national titles under its belt.
"I felt that last year we got a feeling of how it [the postseason] is," said Edwards. "Now we know what to expect from it. We are just ready to go out there and play."
The Golden Knights have spent much of the week answering questions from the media about UCF and the matchup with Connecticut. Each day before practice, the team has met with members of the Orlando media.
Speraw has spoken to reporters from across the country and appeared live on ESPNews on Tuesday evening.
Sophomore Josh Peppers is among the college basketball players featured on the cover of this week's Sports Illustrated.