Nov. 30, 2011
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By Doug Richards
UCFAthletics.com
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - After the UCF men's basketball program moved to the Division I level in the 1980s, the Knights regularly faced big-name opponents. UCF routinely faced teams like Florida, Florida State, Georgia and South Carolina.
What was not a regular occurrence were wins over these well-known teams. In fact, UCF did not pick up its first victory over a "power-conference" program until 2007 when Jermaine Taylor and the Knights handled Penn State at the Old Spice Classic in Lake Buena Vista.
From 1984-2010, UCF recorded only three wins in countless tries against "power-conference" squads. Following UCF's 69-63 triumph over No. 4 UConn last week in the Bahamas, the struggles against big-name foes are a thing of the past for the Knights.
Since Donnie Jones took over the helm of the program prior to last year, he has guided UCF to four victories in five games against "power-conference" teams. In addition to knocking off the defending national champion Huskies, and snapping their 16-game winning streak, the Knights defeated No. 16 Florida, Miami and USF in 2010-11. Under Jones, UCF has topped two BIG EAST squads as well as programs from the SEC and ACC.
UCF's win over UConn was the first regular-season victory over a top-five opponent for a Conference USA school since 2007.
The Knights will return to action Saturday, hosting Hartford at 5 p.m. Season tickets are still available by calling (407) UCF-1000 or by visiting UCFAthletics.com.