March 17, 2005
WORCESTER, Mass. - The UCF men's basketball team will be looking to pull an upset when the squad faces the defending national champion Connecticut Huskies in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday at the DCU Center. The 15th seed Golden Knights will be playing second-seeded Connecticut (22-7) for the first time.
The game will be televised live on CBS, starting at 2:45 p.m., with Gus Johnson and Len Elmore on the call.
The Golden Knights (24-8) have claimed eight straight contests and 12 of their last 13. The team last played on March 5, topping Gardner-Webb (63-54) in the Atlantic Sun Championship title game.
UCF practiced Thursday for 50 minutes at the DCU Center. The session was open to the public.
Sophomore Josh Peppers (13.5 points per game) and senior Gary Johnson (13.2) are UCF's top scorers. Johnson has hit 96 three-pointers on the season, establishing a program single-season record.
Inside, junior Anthony Williams leads the way, grabbing 5.6 boards per game. Senior Kingsley Edwards has tallied a team-best 132 assists.
Each of UCF's last five opponents have all shot below 40 percent from the floor. On the year, the squad paces the A-Sun in scoring defense, allowing just 64.8 points per contest.
UCF ranks 19th nationally, hitting 8.5 treys per game.
The Huskies have lost only twice in their last 12 games. They dropped their last contest, 67-63, to Syracuse in the BIG EAST Championship on March 11.
Sophomore Marcus Williams leads the nation in assists at 8.1 per game. Fellow sophomore Charlie Villanueva is tops on the team in scoring (13.2).
Head coach Jim Calhoun's team is averaging 79.7 points per game and leads the nation in blocks, swatting 9.3 shots per contest. Sophomore Josh Boone is averaging three blocks per game to go with 12.7 points and 8.7 rebounds.
"Obviously, we've got a big challenge ahead of us tomorrow afternoon," said UCF head coach Kirk Speraw. "Connecticut is an outstanding basketball team. They're so physically gifted in their size and ability to run the floor. It's a big challenge."
UCF will be looking for its first postseason win in four tries. For the second consecutive year, the Golden Knights will face a BIG EAST squad in the tournament. The team played Pittsburgh in 2004, falling 53-44 in Milwaukee, Wis.
Connecticut-UCF will also be aired live on the UCF ISP Sports Network and its flagship station, 740-THE TEAM (AM). Marc Daniels will have the call from courtside.