Jan. 2, 2006
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LEXINGTON, Ky. - UCF will face the all-time winningest program in college basketball on Tuesday, as the Golden Knights are slated to play 19th-ranked Kentucky in Lexington. Tip-off at Rupp Arena is set for 7 p.m.
The Golden Knights (6-5) will be facing Kentucky for the first time on the hardwood. The Wildcats, who have won seven national titles, enter the contest with a 9-3 mark on the year.
UCF-Kentucky will be televised on Fox Sports South and will be available in Florida as part of the ESPN Full Court package only. Rob Bromley will handle the play-by-play and Martin Newton will provide the color commentary.
The game will be aired live on the UCF ISP Sports Network and its flagship station, WQTM - 740 THE TEAM. Marc Daniels will have the call from courtside. Audio of the contest is also available on www.UCFathletics.com as part of the "Golden Knights All-Access" package.
UCF SEEKING A RETURN TO ITS WINNING WAYS The Golden Knights will be looking for their first road win of the season when they face Kentucky. UCF is averaging 63.9 points per game and is shooting 45.3 percent from the floor. The squad is averaging 16.6 turnovers per contest, but committed just 10 in its last outing.
Josh Peppers leads the team in scoring at 13.7 points per game and Justin Rose is averaging 11.8 points and a team-best 5.8 boards. Rose ranks in the top-10 in Conference USA in field goal (51.1) and three-point field goal (47.2) percentage.
LAST TIME OUT Despite a game-high 17 points from Josh Peppers, UCF lost to visiting Birmingham-Southern, 58-50, in the title game of the UCF Holiday Classic on Friday. The Golden Knights shot just 35.6 percent from the floor and trailed 24-20 at halftime. UCF held a 36-26 edge on the glass, but made just 5-of-22 (22.7 percent) attempts from deep.
ABOUT KENTUCKY The Wildcats have won three-consecutive games, including a 71-63 victory over Ohio in Cincinnati on Friday. Joe Crawford paced the Wildcats with 23 points. This season, Kentucky is 5-1 at home. Two of Kentucky's three losses this year have been against ranked opponents and the other defeat was to defending national champion North Carolina. The Wildcats are averaging 71.6 points per game and are shooting 44.7 percent overall.
Rajon Rondo is averaging a team-high 15.3 points and 8.5 rebounds. His 5.2 assists per contest rank fifth in the Southeastern Conference.
SERIES HISTORY UCF and Kentucky have never met on the hardwood. All-time, UCF is 0-23 versus Southeastern Conference foes. On Dec. 3, the Golden Knights dropped an 80-47 contest at No. 11 Florida.
A RETURN TO RUPP UCF will be making its second appearance at Rupp Arena. In Kirk Speraw's first season at UCF, he led the Golden Knights to the 1994 NCAA Tournament after winning the Atlantic Sun Conference Championship crown. Seeded 16th and making its first appearance in the "Big Dance," UCF faced top-seeded Purdue in Lexington, losing 98-67. The Boilermaker squad featured Glenn Robinson.
BIG CROWD IN THE BLUEGRASS STATE The Golden Knights' 1994 NCAA Tournament game against Purdue at Rupp Arena was played in front of 21,558 fans - the largest crowd to ever witness a UCF basketball game.
UCF-KENTUCKY CONNECTIONS UCF head coach Kirk Speraw served as an assistant coach at Florida under Lon Kruger from 1990-93 and the Gators were 0-3 at Rupp Arena during that span. Current UCF assistant coach Craig Brown starred as a player at Florida from 1990-94. Brown's Florida teams went 2-7 versus Kentucky and were 0-4 versus the Wildcats at Rupp Arena.
The UCF and Kentucky men's soccer programs both compete in Conference USA. This past season, the Golden Knights posted a 2-1 win in Orlando over Kentucky.
PEPPERS, ROSE SHINE AT TOURNAMENT Josh Peppers and Justin Rose both earned all-tournament accolades following the UCF Holiday Classic on Dec. 30. Peppers averaged 16 points at the event, including a game-high 17 points in the title game versus Birmingham-Southern. Rose averaged 12 points and six rebounds in the two games.
THE GO-TO-GUY Josh Peppers is leading UCF in scoring this season, averaging 13.7 points per contest. In the Golden Knights' last four contests, he is scoring 19.8 points a game. This season, he has already drained 21 three-pointers and is also averaging a career-best 4.3 boards.
Peppers showed great improvement as a sophomore in 2004-05, averaging 13.1 points per game. As a freshman, he averaged 3.8 points in 11.5 minutes a contest.
LEAVING THE SUNSHINE When it faces Kentucky, UCF will be playing outside of the state of Florida for only the second time this season. When the team participated in the Fiesta Bowl Classic from Dec. 19-21 in Tucson, Ariz., it marked the Golden Knights' first games outside the state of Florida in 2005-06. UCF opened the season with seven-consecutive contests in the Sunshine State.
THREE-POINT SPECIALIST Senior guard Troy Lindbeck is leaving his mark in the UCF record books. Lindbeck has connected on 99 three-point field goals, good for 11th all-time at the school. Only 10 players in school history have hit more than 100 three-pointers during their career. His 294 three-point attempts are good for 10th in the UCF annals.
SUNSHINE STATE SUCCESS UCF's 76 victories since the start of the 2002-03 campaign rank second among all programs in the state of Florida during that span.
BACK TO SCHOOL This season, a pair of UCF assistant coaches have faced their alma maters on the hardwood. The Golden Knights visited Florida, where Craig Brown starred at from 1990-94, on Dec. 3. In the championship game of the UCF Holiday Classic on Dec. 30, the Golden Knights faced Birmingham-Southern, the alma mater of Dwight Evans. Evans played for the Panthers from 1982-84 and is a member of the school's athletics hall of fame.
CINGULAR WIRELESS KNIGHTS ROUNDTABLE The "Cingular Wireless Knights Roundtable" radio show featuring Kirk Speraw will make its 2005-06 basketball season debut on Jan. 9. The program will air live from the Applebee's on University Boulevard near the UCF campus. Hosted by Marc Daniels, the show airs on 740 THE TEAM - AM (WQTM), the flagship station of the UCF ISP Sports Network. Fans can also listen via the Internet at www.UCFathletics.com. The program will run each Monday through March 13. Each hour-long show will begin at 6 p.m.
THIS DATE IN UCF HISTORY On Jan. 3, 1998, UCF defeated host Mercer, 82-72, in its first Atlantic Sun Conference game of the season. Brad Traina recorded a double-double in the win with 15 points and 15 rebounds.
UP NEXT UCF returns home for its inaugural Conference USA game on Jan. 11 versus Marshall... the contest will mark the first C-USA contest for both squads... the Thundering Herd are in their first season in the league after moving from the Mid-American Conference... the teams will be meeting for the first time... under head coach Kirk Speraw, the Golden Knights are 7-5 in conference openers... due to the Atlantic Sun's 20-game schedule, UCF opened its conference slate a year ago on Dec. 2 versus Gardner-Webb at home. With the 14-game C-USA schedule, the Golden Knights will now open league play in mid-January.