Jan. 22, 2008
Complete Release in PDF Format
ORLANDO, Fla. (www.ucfathletics.com) - The UCF men's basketball team will be seeking its fourth-consecutive win when the Knights host UTEP for a Conference USA contest at the new UCF Arena on Wednesday. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m.
UCF (10-7, 3-0 C-USA) has opened C-USA play with three-consecutive victories. In their last home game, the Knights posted a 97-91 triple-overtime win over Tulsa on Jan. 12. The contest was played in front of a school-record 7,097 fans.
UTEP is 11-5 overall and 2-1 in the conference.
Tickets are available at all Ticketmaster outlets and at the UCF Ticket Office at Bright House Networks Stadium. On gameday, tickets can be purchased at the new UCF Arena.
UCF has seven league home contests remaining and the UCF Athletics Association is offering a pair of special ticket deals. The C-USA Pack includes tickets to all seven of the Knights' remaining C-USA games in Orlando for $105.
The 3-Point Pack provides fans with tickets to games against UAB (Jan. 30), Houston (Feb. 2) and Rice (March 1) for $39. That package also includes a ticket to the UCF women's game versus East Carolina prior to the men's contest on Feb. 2.
Call 407-UCF-1000 for more information about the ticket packages.
Students are admitted free to all UCF home contests with a valid school ID.
The contest will air on the UCF ISP Sports Network and its flagship station, 740 AM in Orlando. Marc Daniels will provide the call from courtside. He will be joined by reporter Scott Adams.
Live audio, video and statistics are available at www.ucfathletics.com.
THE COACHES
Kirk Speraw (Iowa, 1980) is in his 15th season as UCF's head coach. He owns a 241-194 record at UCF. In his 18th year as a head coach, he has a 323-215 mark. In 2006-07, he was named the Conference USA Coach of the Year.
Tony Barbee (Massachusetts, 1993) is 25-22 in his second year at UTEP and his second campaign as a head coach.
SERIES INFORMATION
The Knights have a 2-1 edge in the all-time series with UTEP. Since both programs joined Conference USA prior to the 2005-06 campaign, UCF is 2-0 versus the Miners.
A year ago, the Knights posted a 67-64 win at UTEP. Jermaine Taylor paced UCF with 15 points. In the only series matchup in Orlando, the Knights eased to a 66-55 victory on March 4, 2006.
In two contests against the Miners, Mike O'Donnell is averaging 19 points. He has drained eight 3-pointers versus UTEP. During the game in 2006 at the old UCF Arena, he went 6-of-6 from deep and finished with 23 points in 37 minutes.
ABOUT UTEP
The Miners feature one of the nation's top scorers in Stefon Jackson. The junior shooting guard paces Conference USA, averaging 23.6 points per game. He has made 149 trips to the free-throw line this year.
On Saturday, UTEP fell 77-72 at Houston, despite 21 points and 11 boards from Jackson. The squad is third in C-USA in scoring (78.3), while limiting foes to 69.1 points per game.
Marvin Kilgore ranks second in the league in assists per game, dishing out 5.2 a contest. Victor Ramalho paces the team on the glass (5.8).
UP NEXT FOR THE KNIGHTS
UCF will will make the second of four trips to Texas this season on Saturday, facing SMU. The all-time series is tied 1-1, with the Mustangs claiming the only meeting in Dallas two years ago.
Last season, the Knights posted a 64-56 win over SMU in Orlando behind 18 points off of the bench from Jermaine Taylor.
LAST TIME OUT
Jermaine Taylor scored a career-high 32 points to lift UCF to 71-66 win at East Carolina on Saturday. The Knights hit 14-consecutive free throws in the last seven minutes of the game to hold on for the win.
LEADERS OF THE NEW SCHOOL
Since joining Conference USA with five other programs prior to the 2005-06 campaign, UCF has recorded 21 league victories, the most among the new members. UTEP (19), Tulsa (16), Marshall (14), Rice (14) and SMU (7) follow UCF.
With the move, the Knights have faced the biggest increase in competition among the new schools, having previously competed in the Atlantic Sun. In 2006-07, UCF went 11-5 in C-USA play to finish second in the 12-team league.
TAMING THE WEST
When UCF entered Conference USA in 2005, the school was joined by five other programs, including four schools that were members of the Western Athletic Conference. Since joining C-USA, the Knights are 9-3 against the former WAC programs: Tulsa (3-1), Rice (3-1), UTEP (2-0) and SMU (1-1).
MR. SUNSHINE
Not only does Jermaine Taylor rank third in Conference USA in points per game at 20.7, the junior is also the top scorer this year in the state of Florida. Thirteen schools in the Sunshine State sponsor Division I basketball and Taylor's scoring average is tops among all state players. USF's Kentrell Gransberry (16.8) is second, followed by Carlos Monroe (16.5) of Florida Atlantic.
CONFERENCE CONFIDENCE
Jermaine Taylor is averaging a league-high 24.3 points in Conference USA games. Against league foes, Taylor is shooting 52.1 percent overall and has made 16-of-17 (94.1 percent) attempts at the free-throw line.
The junior has exhibited his all-around game in league play as well, averaging 7.7 boards, which ranks sixth. On the defensive end in conference games, he is averaging a league-best 2.7 steals.
FOLLOW THE LEADER
Jermaine Taylor has paced the Knights in points in 14 of their 17 contests this season.
Taylor has recorded 20-point performances on 12 occasions in 2007-08. He has scored in double-figures in 14-consecutive games.
30-30 CLUB
Prior to this season, a Knight had not recorded 30 or more points in a game since the 2004-05 campaign. Jermaine Taylor has achieved the feat twice this season.
Most recently, he dropped a career-best 32 points at East Carolina on Jan. 19. Facing Connecticut on Dec. 28, he led all players with a then career-high 30 points.
WEEKLY WONDER
Jermaine Taylor has garnered a pair of Conference USA Player of the Week honors this season. After leading the Knights to a 2-0 start in C-USA play, Taylor won the award on Jan. 14. He averaged 20.5 points and 8.5 rebounds in a pair of contests.
In the Knights' 97-91 triple-overtime victory over Tulsa, Taylor played a career-high 49 minutes and led all players with 28 points. He also paced UCF with nine boards.
On Dec. 31, he was named the C-USA Player of the Week for the first time in his career. He earned the award after averaging 25.2 points in a pair of games.
Taylor is the first Knight to earn conference player of the week honors on two occasions in the same season since 1998-99 when Brad Traina claimed a pair of Atlantic Sun awards.
BIGGER AND BETTER
In 31 contests last season, Jermaine Taylor totaled 395 points. Through 17 games in 2007-08, he has already scored 352 points. Each season at UCF, Taylor has shown great improvement on the court. In 2006-07, he averaged 12.7 points. As a freshman the previous season, Taylor averaged 4.3 points in 11.7 minutes per game. He shot just 39.5 percent overall and 30.4 percent from 3-point range as a rookie.
FREE FALLING
Jermaine Taylor is 10th in Conference USA, shooting 80.5 percent from the free-throw line. In UCF's win at East Carolina on Jan. 19, he went 8-of-8 from the charity stripe, with all of the attempts coming in the final seven minutes of the contest.
Taylor's success at the free-throw line is impressive, considering he entered the year as a 64.4 percent shooter from the stripe. A year ago, he went 71.1 at the line. As a freshman in 2005-06, Taylor made just 17-of-56 (30.4 percent) of his attempts.
GETTING TO THE GLASS
Jermaine Taylor has improved more than his offensive game since arriving at UCF. This season, he is averaging a career-best 5.0 rebounds. A year ago, he averaged 3.2 boards.
In UCF's last three games, the guard is averaging 7.7 rebounds.
FAMILY TIES
In just his third campaign with the Knights, Jermaine Taylor already ranks ninth all-time at UCF with 124 career 3-pointers. Ironically, his first cousin, Darryl Davis, is eighth on the school's all-time treys list. Davis played for the Knights from 1991-95 and connected on 129 triples.
Taylor's ascension to the career list is impressive, considering he only hit 17 triples as a freshman in 2005-06.
14 SHOTS TO THE DOME
Against East Carolina on Saturday, UCF went 1-of-2 from the free-throw line in the first half. The second half featured frequent trips to the line and a perfect performance for the Knights.
UCF went 14-of-14 at the line after intermission, with all of the makes coming in the last seven minutes of the game. For the contest, the team shot 93.8 percent (15-of-16), which ranked fourth on the school's single-game register.
Ironically, the team shot 93.8 percent from the charity stripe in its win at East Carolina last year.
NO HALF STEPPING
UCF is 10-0 when leading at halftime in 2007-08. In the last two years, the squad is 27-4 when taking an advantage into intermission.
TOP OF THE LINE
In his third campaign with the Knights, Dave Noel ranks second in program history in free-throw percentage, shooting at an 83.5 percent clip. Cleveland Jackson (1977-79) is the school's leader in the category at 83.8 percent.
This year, Noel is fifth in Conference USA, shooting 84.3 percent from the line. In league play, he is 16-of-18 (88.9) at the charity stripe. At East Carolina on Saturday, Noel helped the Knights go 15-of-16 (93.8 percent) from the line as he made all four of his free-throw attempts.
MAN OF STEAL
Averaging 1.8 steals per game, Mike O'Donnell currently leads Conference USA in the category. O'Donnell has 31 steals on the year. He paced the Knights in steals last season with 48.
HOME GROWN
In its first campaign at the new UCF Arena, UCF is 7-2 at home this season. A year ago, the squad won a school-record 15 games as the team played its final year at the old UCF Arena.
Since the start of the 2003-04 camaign, the Knights are 56-12 in Orlando.
In two seasons in Conference USA, UCF is 12-4 in league contests at home.
FULL HOUSE
In their inaugural campaign at the new UCF Arena, the Knights are averaging 4,856 fans per game. UCF has played eight home contests in 2007-08 and four of the top-five highest single-game attendance totals in program history have already been recorded.
A school-record 7,097 fans watched the Knights play Tulsa on Jan. 12 at the new facility. The Knights have achieved a program record in attendance four times this campaign.
Last year, the Knights boasted a school-record 2,706 fans per game at the old UCF Arena.
BATTLE'S BACK
Reserve guard Mike Battle missed 11 games in non-conference play due to an injury. He returned to the floor briefly at Sam Houston State on Jan. 5 and had his best contest since coming back at East Carolina on Saturday.
In 15 minutes, Battle scored five points, grabbed a rebound and dished out an assist.
Battle played in the Knights' first two contests of 2007-08 and averaged 7.0 points and 2.5 rebounds during the span.
GETTING TO THE GLASS
Tony Davis paces UCF, averaging 6.5 rebounds per game in 2007-08. In UCF's last five games, he is averaging 7.2 rebounds.
OFFENSIVE IMPROVEMENT
Tony Davis is fourth on the Knights in scoring at 5.8 points per game. The forward, who made his first career start at East Carolina on Jan. 19, has recorded 102 points in 15 contests this year.
In 2006-07 as a freshman, Davis appeared in all 31 of UCF's games and totaled just 89 points for a 2.3 average.
STAN STANDS TALL
Stanley Billings has started all 17 of the Knights' games this year at center and has shown great improvement. He is averaging 5.8 points, 5.0 boards and 1.3 blocks in 18.9 minutes per game.
A year ago, he played in 26 games as a reserve and averaged 2.8 points and 2.1 rebounds in only 9.8 minutes a contest.
At 29 years old, he is the oldest player in the nation.