Jan. 13, 2010
By Doug Richards
UCFAthletics.com
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - For the first 20 minutes of UCF's Conference USA contest against Marshall Wednesday, the Knights fed off the energy of the 9,460 fans at the UCF Arena. With the second-largest crowd in school history watching, UCF excelled offensively in the first half, helping the team take a 44-35 advantage into intermission.
The second half was a different story as the Thundering Herd made big shots, dominated the boards and got blocked shot after blocked shot from impressive freshman Hassan Whiteside to escape with an 81-75 victory in a physical contest which was played in front of the second-largest crowd in UCF history.
Marshall (14-2, 3-0 C-USA) finished with a 37-26 edge on the boards and received a triple-double (14 points, 14 rebounds and 10 blocks) from Whiteside.
UCF (9-7, 1-1) made just seven trips to the free throw line, making four attempts, while the Herd made 21-of-30 tries at the line.
"There are two stats that jump out at you," UCF head coach Kirk Speraw said. "When they are shooting 30 and you are shooting seven, that is tough to overcome. They did a good job of shooting them. They shot the ball well from the free-throw line. Then the fact that they got more offensive rebounds than you got offensive rebounds... those things are tough."
With UCF seemingly in control of the game early in the second half, Whiteside sparked a 20-6 run for the Herd, scoring inside with 15:11 to play. The Knights had their chances to quiet the spurt, but missed 3-pointers, dunks and defensive rebounds.
"I think we lost our intensity that we had in the first half. We could of started to build on that lead, but again it was the little stuff that hurt us," sophomore guard A.J. Rompza said. "In the second half... they were getting every loose ball, they went to the glass harder than us."
Despite Marshall taking a 76-65 lead with 1:29 to play after Tyler Wilkerson hit a trey with the shot clock winding down, UCF kept playing hard, eventually cutting the lead to three with 38 seconds left after a traditional 3-point play from freshman guard Marcus Jordan, who finished with a season-best 19 points on 7-of-9 shooting overall, and a 3-of-3 effort from deep.
After Jordan's free-throw cut Marshall's advantage to 76-73, Rompza nearly recorded a steal under the Marshall basket, but had to throw the ball back into the paint as he was falling out of bounds. The ball ended up in the hands of Wilkerson, who was fouled and made both shots at the line.
The tough second half overshadowed a great atmosphere at the UCF Arena. The crowd was treated to a special halftime performance from the world-famous Blue Man Group.
Rompza, who finished with 12 points, six assists and three steals in 35 minutes, praised the crowd after the contest.
"We probably had the best fans since I have been here. Everyone showed up and they were enthusiastic about everything. We appreciate it."
The slate will not get any easier for the Knights. UCF will play at Tulsa Saturday. The Golden Hurricane are 11-0 at home this season. After facing Tulsa, UCF will meet host Houston next Wednesday.
"I told our guys that every conference game is going to be this way," Speraw said. "We need to understand that and be ready for that. We've got to be more consistent from beginning to end with our execution and effort."
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.