Feb. 11, 2006
ORLANDO- Junior forward Josh Peppers paced UCF with 11 points as the Golden Knights rolled to a 72-51 Conference USA victory over Tulane on Saturday evening at Torchy Clark Court at UCF Arena. The Golden Knights (10-11, 4-4 C-USA) harassed the Green Wave all evening, forcing 22 turnovers.
UCF's bench accounted for 39 points. Ten of the 11 Golden Knights to see action against Tulane (9-13, 4-5) scored. The Green Wave entered the contest on a four-game winning streak.
"Our guys played with energy, I was pleased with the intensity in practice yesterday, and that carried over into today," said UCF head coach Kirk Speraw. "I was pleased with how our guys picked up the gameplan. We just had one day to prepare for Tulane."
Tulane led by as many as eight points early, but the Golden Knights closed the first half on a 27-10 run. Freshman guard Jermaine Taylor hit a pair of three-pointers during the spurt.
UCF hit five treys in the first half and forced 14 Green Wave turnovers. The hosts led, 34-25, at the break.
For the game, UCF was a season-high 19-of-22 (86.4 percent) at the free-throw line.
Peppers, who was coming off of the bench for the first time in 42 games, drained three triples and added four rebounds in 22 minutes.
UCF led by as many as 22 points in the second half. Taylor put the game away for the Golden Knights, following up a missed shot from senior forward Anthony Williams with a dunk to hand UCF a 56-38 advantage with 9:45 to play in the contest.
Williams was the only other Golden Knight to finish with double-digits in scoring, totaling 10 points. Junior forward Lavell Payne had nine points and and a team-high six rebounds. Taylor finished with eight points in the win.
UCF shot 37.9 percent overall for the game and held a 39-27 edge on the boards.
David Gomez paced Tulane with 13 points and five boards. Quincy Davis recorded 10 points for Tulane.
The Green Wave made just 16 field goals and were 2-of-11 (18.2 percent) from deep.
The Golden Knights return to the court on Wednesday, hosting Houston. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m.