Jan. 21, 2010
By Doug Richards
UCFAthletics.com
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - Due to foul trouble, junior forward A.J. Tyler (Palm Harbor, Fla.) played just 18 minutes at Tulsa this past Saturday, finishing with seven points. Tyler was determined to have a better contest last night at Houston, and succeeded, matching a career-high with 19 points as the Knights posted a big 78-71 win.
Tyler shot 8-of-17 overall and also matched a career-best with nine boards.
After the Tulsa game, Tyler spent time with head coach Kirk Speraw, who urged him remain positive following the loss to the Golden Hurricane.
"Coach has just been talking to me about playing smart and being aggressive and trying to get to the basket. I guess it worked out well last night," Tyler said. "I have been continuing to work on my shooting. Coach has been continuing to give me confidence. I have been shooting well the last couple of games. Hopefully that will continue."
Tyler scored 12 of his points in the first half, helping the Knights take an 11-point lead into intermission. He fouled out late in the contest, but his teammates were able to hold off a late Houston rally to improve to 10-8 overall and 2-2 in Conference USA play.
"This is a huge win for us, especially going on the road to beat Houston," Tyler said. "We were really locked in after those two losses. We did not want to accept those. We worked real hard and were able to come in and change it. We get to travel home with a win."
Next up for the Knights is a Saturday home contest against UTEP at 5 p.m. at the UCF Arena. The Miners (12-5, 3-1) are coming off a big win, having snapped Memphis' 64-game league winning streak Wednesday with a 72-67 victory at FedEx Forum.
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.
Notes: The Knights returned from Houston Thursday afternoon. The squad then headed to the UCF Practice Facility for a film session... After scoring a career-high 23 points on 9-of-9 shooting versus Houston, freshman guard Marcus Jordan (Highland Park, Ill.) now ranks first in C-USA, shooting 68.0 percent overall in league contests.