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Taylor, Pirates Pound Penn, 81-64

Dec. 29, 2008

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -Jermaine Taylor matched his career high with 34 points while leading the University of Central Florida to an easy, 81-64 victory over Penn on Monday night.

The Knights will play in the championship game at the UCF Holiday Classic on Tuesday against Chicago State, which won the tournament opener over Campbell.

UCF (7-4) led just 35-32 at halftime, but was never seriously challenged in the second half while hitting 17 of its 28 shots after intermission (60.7 percent).

For Taylor, it was the third time in the last five games that he scored at least 30 points.

Taylor, a senior guard, hit 14 of 21 shots, including 3 of 6 from 3-point range, and was the only UCF player to reach double figures. He was 7-for-9 after halftime.

Penn (1-7) was led by forward Jack Eggleston with 15 points, while Tyler Bernardini and Kevin Egee had 13 points each.