March 10, 2006
MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Despite 15 points from junior forward Josh Peppers, the UCF men's basketball team had its season come to a close on Thursday evening as No. 4 Houston topped the fifth-seed Golden Knights, 71-52, in the quarterfinals of the Conference USA Championship at the FedEx Forum. UCF (14-15) was playing in the C-USA tournament for the first time after moving from the Atlantic Sun Conference.
Oliver Lafayette hit five three-pointers and led Houston (20-8) with 19 points. The Cougars will face top-seed Memphis in semifinal play on Friday.
Lanny Smith drained a pair of triples as Houston started the contest with a 9-0 run. The Cougars never trailed during the game. Houston held a 43-32 advantage on the glass and grabbed 20 offensive rebounds.
"Give all the credit to Houston. They really executed their gameplan tonight," said UCF head coach Kirk Speraw. "We struggled stopping their long-distance shooting early and just could not come back on a team with shooters like that."
The loss snaps a seven-game conference tournament winning streak for the Golden Knights.
Houston led by as many as 10 early in the game, but the Golden Knights cut the deficit to 17-11 on a jumper by junior forward Lavell Payne at the 9:15 mark of the first half. The Cougars answered right back, pulling away as Chris Lawson made a jumper and then sank three free throws.
Senior guard Troy Lindbeck made history for UCF when he checked into the contest at the 11:49 mark of the first period, becoming the school's all-time leader in games played with 122.
UCF shot 36.7 percent overall for the game. Senior forward Marcus Johnson finished with eight points and seven rebounds. Freshman guard Jermaine Taylor scored seven points in 17 minutes. Peppers, a Memphis native, matched a career-high with three blocks as UCF recorded seven swats for the game.
For the game, the Cougars shot 34.4 percent overall, but made 20-of-25 (80 percent) at the free-throw line.
Smith recorded 13 points and Jahmar Thorpe posted 11 points in the winning effort.
UCF advanced to the quarterfinals by recording a 65-52 win over No. 12 East Carolina on Wednesday.