Nov. 9, 2005
ORLANDO - Junior forward Josh Peppers scored 24 points on 9-of-12 shooting from the floor to lift the UCF men's basketball team to a 70-53 exhibition victory over Barry on Wednesday evening at UCF Arena. Peppers hit three shots from deep and added six rebounds and four assists in the win.
The Golden Knights led 34-14 at halftime after limiting the Buccaneers to just five field goals in the opening period. Freshman guard Jermaine Taylor scored seven points off the bench for UCF.
Barry got within 12 points with 3:47 to play in the game after a layup by Amadou Fall, but Peppers responded, hitting a jumper on the ensuing possession to hand the hosts a 62-48 lead.
The Golden Knights shot 49 percent from the floor for the game, including a 57.1 percent showing in the final period. The team connected on just 6-of-17 shots from behind-the-arc and committed 21 turnovers.
"We had some good moments out there," said UCF head coach Kirk Speraw. "There are a lot of things that we have to work on as well before the regular season begins and that was also apparent."
UCF closed the first half on a 14-1 run. Sophomore guard Dave Noel started the spurt, nailing a jumper at the 3:10 mark to give the Golden Knights a 22-13 edge. Taylor hit a pair of treys during the run on his way to six first-half points.
Sophomore center Adam Gill finished with eight points and five boards in just 16 minutes of action. Senior guard Justin Rose totaled six points and a game-high nine rebounds.
Sophomore guard Mike O'Donnell had seven points and four assists and junior forward Lavell Payne chipped in with six points and six boards. Despite foul trouble, senior forward Anthony Williams scored seven points, grabbed six boards and posted two blocks for UCF.
Barry shot just 27.9 percent from the field for the contest. Felipe Barrios came off of the bench to score a team-high 15 points. Fall recorded 10 points in the losing effort.
UCF opens its regular season campaign on Nov. 18, hosting cross-town foe Rollins at 8 p.m. Speraw's squad is entering its first campaign as a member of Conference USA and is coming off of two consecutive trips to the NCAA Tournament.