Dec. 22, 2008
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - Senior guard Jermaine Taylor (Tavares, Fla.) scored 21 points and the Knights shot 63.3 percent overall as the UCF men's basketball team rolled to an 85-60 win over Valparaiso Monday evening at the UCF Arena. The Knights (6-4), who hit 13 3-pointers, never trailed during the contest.
UCF's field-goal percentage was the seventh-highest mark in school history. With the win, the Knights improved to 4-0 at home this year. Valparaiso fell to 3-8 overall with the loss.
Taylor connected on 7-of-10 field goals and made 6-of-8 shots from deep. He was one of three Knights who finished with double-digits in scoring.
UCF shot 64.0 percent overall and 63.6 percent (7-of-11) from 3-point range in the first half. The hosts raced out to a 10-2 lead and never looked back. The Knights took a 44-28 edge into intermission.
"Our guys, I thought, executed very well," UCF head coach Kirk Speraw said. "We got back to sound defensive principles and executing what we do offensively. That created some things offensively for us and some easy transitions. Our guys were in much better position, were (more) aware and played much harder."
The win avenged an earlier loss to the Crusaders for UCF. On Nov. 18, host Valparaiso posted a 69-52 win over the Knights.
Taylor, who spent just 26 minutes on the court, recorded 15 of his 21 points before halftime.
UCF led by as many as 35 points during the contest. For the game, the hosts shot 13-of-22 (59.1 percent) from 3-point range. Off the bench, freshman guard Isaac Sosa (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico) hit all four of his 3-point field goal attempts and finished with 15 points in just 14 minutes.
The Knights recorded 20 assists on 31 made field goals. Freshman guard A.J. Rompza (Chicago, Ill.) totaled seven of the assists. In only 13 minutes, junior forward Tony Davis (Sarasota, Fla.) scored 11 points and also grabbed a game-high six rebounds.
The contest began a six-game homestand for UCF.
The Crusaders shot 40.0 percent for the game. Brandon McPherson paced the team with 12 points.
The Knights will return to action on Monday, Dec. 29, hosting Penn as part of the UCF Holiday Classic at 7 p.m. The following day, UCF will meet either Campbell or Chicago State.
For the latest news on the Knights, log on to UCFAthletics.com - the official site for UCF varsity sports. The site, which also contains ticket and Golden Knights Club donor information, is also the home of UCF's new online apparel store. Also visit UCFPhotos.com, the exclusive fan source for UCF action sports pictures.