Nov. 4, 2007
ORLANDO, Fla. (www.ucfathletics.com) - On Saturday, UCF head coach Kirk Speraw was quick to say that his team will use its 86-78 exhibition game win over St. Leo as a learning experience. Playing a game inside the new UCF Arena for the first time, the Knights were sluggish on occasion against the Lions.
Two of Speraw's players were on the top of their games as junior guard Jermaine Taylor (Tavares, Fla./Tavares) scored 28 points and senior guard Mike O'Donnell (Largo, Fla./Largo) hit seven 3-pointers and finished with 22 points.
UCF shot 45.2 percent overall and made 12 treys. O'Donnell said that the team did not play its best on the defensive end.
St. Leo connected on 46.9 percent of its shoots from the floor and hit 42.9 percent from deep. Three Lions finished with at least 18 points, led by Jordan Prais with 30.
"There are a few things we need to work on defensively in terms of communication," O'Donnell said. "We just have to learn how to apply it (our team defensive scheme) in game-time situations. It is better than it was last year and it will progress each practice."
UCF is slated to practice for three hours on Sunday afternoon.
The Knights will open the regular season at the new UCF Arena on Nov. 11, hosting Nevada. The squad will play 16 regular-season contests at home this year.
UCF will host Florida Southern for an exhibition game on Tuesday. Admission is free for the contest.
Season tickets are currently available by calling 407-UCF-1000. One lucky season ticket holder will get to drive home from the new UCF Arena in a brand new 2008 UCF edition Mazda CX-9, courtesy of Classic Mazda, the presenting sponsor of this year's season ticket drive. UCF fans who purchase two season tickets be entered into a drawing to win the Mazda CX-9.
For the latest news and information on the Knights, tickets or apparel, log on to www.ucfathletics.com - the official site for UCF varsity sports. Also check out www.ucfphotos.com, the exclusive fan source for UCF action sports pictures.
Notes: On Sunday morning, five Knights arrived early at the new UCF Arena to participate in the final video session for the team's pregame video. Seniors Mike Battle (Waldorf, Md./Southern Maryland Christian) and Stanley Billings (Orlando, Fla./Oak Ridge), sophomores Drew Speraw (Oviedo, Fla./Oviedo) and Andre Thornton (Memphis, Tenn./Mitchell) and freshman Jean Michel Yotio (Abidijan, Ivory Coast) took part in the shoot. The video will debut on Nov. 11 prior to the Nevada game. The rest of the team took part in filming last week... Freshman guard Taylor Young (Orlando, Fla./The First Academy) was the lone player to make his UCF debut against St. Leo. Young redshirted last year. In four minutes against the Lions, he recorded an assist.