Dec. 30, 2007
ORLANDO, Fla. (www.ucfathletics.com) - Junior guard Jermaine Taylor (Tavares, Fla./Tavares) amassed 21 points and sophomore forward Tony Davis (Sarasota, Fla./Riverview) recorded his second-career double-double to help the UCF men's basketball team defeat the New Jersey Institute of Technology, 82-50, in the second semifinal game of the UCF Holiday Classic Sunday at the new UCF Arena.
The Knights (6-6) will now battle Long Island in the championship tilt Monday at 3:30 p.m.
"We had a physical and an emotional game against UConn and were disappointed with (the outcome)," said head coach Kirk Speraw. "We were worried about how we were going to come out mentally and how much activity and effort we would have early. And the guys did a great job. They set a good tone defensively, we didn't allow them to get into a rhythm offensively in the first half. We got a comfortable lead and were able to build on that.
"Jermaine's game against Connecticut was as well as he had played offensively as far as his tempo and pace. He came out tonight with that same type of thing and he's kind of gotten into a zone right now. We hope that he keeps that rolling."
For NJIT (0-14) head coach Jim Casciano, it was his first game on the bench since taking a medical leave of absence on Nov. 11. The Highlanders were led by Justin Garris and Kraig Peters, who each had eight points. NJIT will meet Texas Pan-American in the consolation game at 1 p.m. Monday.
Meanwhile, Davis completed his afternoon with 11 points and 12 boards. His first double-double occurred at USF Dec. 1, where he notched 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Following a three from NJIT's Justin Garris to open the contest, UCF used buckets from six different players to notch a 14-3 advantage. Conversely, the Highlanders went 7:26 before connecting for their second field goal.
UCF failed to turn the ball over until there were 16 seconds left before halftime, allowing the Knights to take a 44-18 cushion at the break.
"That was great, and we only had 11 turnovers against UConn," said Speraw. "So taking care of the basketball is important and we are doing a pretty good job of that right now."
Eventually, all 12 Knights that were available in the game got on the scoreboard and each student-athlete played at least 12 minutes in the win. Freshman Jean Michael Yotio (Abidjan, Ivory Coast/Montverde Academy) saw the most time on the court with 22 minutes of work. His previous season-high was 11 minutes against Presbyterian Nov. 28. Yotio capped off his performance with nine points, five boards, two assists and a block.
"Our schedule has not allowed our young players to develop, and that's the drawback of playing this kind of a schedule," said Speraw. "We've had to stay with our veterans to fight those battles, but it was good tonight that we could go deeper and find out what the rest of the team could do in game situations."
UCF finished with a 41-28 margin in the rebounding department, and shot 49.2 percent from the field.
"We were competing early in the year and then we went through a stretch where we didn't compete as well on the glass as what we needed to," said Speraw. "We have focused our energies on getting people to the offensive boards, in particular Jermaine and Tony need to be more active on the offensive glass and they are doing a better job."
In all, 42 of UCF's 82 points came off the bench, while the Knights had 21 second-chance points compared to NJIT, which had just one.
NJIT will face Texas-Pan Am in the tournament consolation game at 1 p.m. on Monday.
UCF's contest will be aired live on the UCF ISP Sports Network and 740 AM in Orlando.
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.