Feb. 24, 2007
TULSA, Okla. (www.ucfathletics.com) - Senior forward Lavell Payne (Fort Lauderdale, Fla./Dillard) and junior guard Mike O'Donnell (Largo, Fla./Largo) both scored 14 points, but it was not enough as the UCF men's basketball team fell short in overtime, 66-64, to Tulsa on Saturday evening at the Reynolds Center. The Golden Knights (20-8, 9-5 Conference USA) had a chance to send the game into a second overtime, but sophomore guard Jermaine Taylor's (Tavares, Fla./Tavares) runner in the lane rimmed out with two seconds left.
The Golden Hurricane, who improved to 17-10 overall and 7-7 in C-USA, limited UCF to just 34.6 percent shooting from the floor. The hosts could have won the game in regulation, but Brett McDade missed a jumper as time expired.
"We knew it would be a tough one. I am very disappointed that we did not get done what we needed to get done," said UCF head coach Kirk Speraw. "Tonight, we had opportunities and we couldn't get that one stop when we needed it or that basket when we needed it."
The Golden Knights were playing their final road contest of the season.
In overtime, O'Donnell evened the score at 64 with a pair of foul shots at the 1:24 mark. After Taylor missed a quick jumper on UCF's next possession, Calvin Walls scored the go-ahead basket for Tulsa. He grabbed an offensive board off of a McDade shot and dunked with 21 seconds on the clock.
The Golden Knights led 32-27 at the break, but shot just 30.8 percent overall after halftime. Tulsa connected on 55 percent of its field-goal attempts in the second half.
Payne shot 5-of-17 from the field. He totaled a team-high eight rebounds. Senior forward Josh Peppers (Memphis, Tenn./Whitehaven) chipped in with 12 points for UCF.
McDade paced Tulsa with 15 points and Walls added 10 points and eight boards. The Golden Hurricane shot 44.7 percent overall.
UCF hosts Houston on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. at the UCF Arena.
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