Feb. 25, 2009
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - Senior guard Jermaine Taylor (Tavares, Fla.) scored a career-high 45 points, but the UCF men's basketball team could not complete another miraculous comeback at the UCF Arena as Rice held on for a 69-66 win Wednesday. Taylor scored 26 of the Knights (16-11, 6-7 Conference USA) 30 second-half points as the hosts nearly erased a 20-point deficit late in the game.
The Owls (9-18, 4-9) led 65-45 with 6:57 remaining, but Taylor scored 19 points during a 21-5 run to close the game. His traditional 3-point play at the 1:20 mark cut the Rice edge to 67-66. After the Owls' Rodney Foster missed a triple, the Knights had the chance to take the lead for the first time since the 12:39 mark of the first half, but Connor Frizzelle stepped in to steal a pass intended for Taylor at midcourt.
After Foster hit a layup to push the Rice advantage to three points, Taylor missed a 3-pointer in the corner with two seconds to go. UCF was forced to foul and after the Owls' Lawrence Ghoram missed a free throw, Taylor's long 3-point attempt was just off the mark as time expired.
Taylor's 45 points were good for a UCF Division I single-game record. He became the first Knight since 1997 to eclipse the 40-point mark. The All-America candidate shot 14-of-29 overall, 5-of-13 from deep and 12-of-13 at the free-throw line.
"You have to give credit to Rice," UCF head coach Kirk Speraw said. "They played an outstanding game. I believe that they have been playing much better and I was really concerned about them. They shot the ball extremely well. I was proud of our guys in the last six or seven minutes of the game for battling. It led to a great opportunity in the end."
The Owls, who shot 51.9 percent overall for the game, led 43-36 at the break and opened the second half with an 11-3 run. A triple by Foster at the 14:33 mark gave the visitors a 54-39 edge.
Taylor began the UCF comeback with a basket inside with 6:34 to play. He hit two triples during the run. After Taylor's two free throws cut the deficit to 67-63 with 1:25 on the clock, freshman guard A.J. Rompza (Chicago, Ill.) recorded a steal in the backcourt and found Taylor in the paint to setup the 3-point play that got the Knights within a point. UCF led by seven points early in the game, but Rice hit five 3-pointers during a 13-4 run that gave the Owls a 30-18 edge with 6:20 to play in the opening half. Rice shot 60.7 percent overall and 53.3 percent from deep in the first half.
The Owls shot 12-of-24 (50.0 percent) from 3-point range for the game. Rice forced 22 UCF turnovers.
In addition to the 45 points, Taylor grabbed seven rebounds and blocked two shots in 34 minutes.
Foster connected on 6-of-11 attempts from deep and finished with 22 points in the win.
The Knights now have three regular-season games remaining. UCF will open a two-game road trip Saturday at Marshall.
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