Dec. 31, 2013
Final Stats
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By Doug Richards
UCFKnights.com
Box Score in PDF Format ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFKnights.com) - Facing the defending national champions Tuesday at CFE Arena, the UCF men's basketball team was hoping to follow the lead of the Knights' football squad and pull off a miraculous comeback against Louisville. UCF used a big run in the first half to get back in the game, but the No. 14/10 Cardinals connected on too many shots from deep on their way to a 90-65 victory in the inaugural American Athletic Conference league contest.
The Cardinals (12-2, 1-0 The American) led by 19 points eight minutes into the game, but UCF (8-4, 0-1) used a 13-0 run to remain in the contest and cut the Louisville advantage to 40-31 at the break. Three early second-half 3-pointers from Russ Smith, who shot 6-of-10 from deep and finished with 24 points, were too much for the Knights as the Cardinals shot 62.1 percent overall and 9-of-14 (64.3 percent) from 3-point range in the second half to pull away.
Isaiah Sykes paced the Knights with 19 points and nine rebounds.
"We knew it was a great challenge coming in and give Louisville credit," UCF head coach Donnie Jones said. "They made shots, especially in the second half - that was the difference in the 3s that they were hitting, but that's the kind of team they are. The pressure wore on us a little bit. We have to learn from this. There's going to be a lot of these games that we are going to play every night so we have to keep ourselves focused and not get too high or too low in victory or loss."
The contest was the first of 18 games that the Knights will play in The American this season. UCF will return to action Saturday, hosting Temple at 4 p.m.
Louisville led 15-2 five minutes into the game, but Sykes sparked the UCF comeback. He had eight points, all layups, during the 13-0 spurt, and his nifty feed that led to a Staphon Blair dunk at the 6:28 mark allowed the hosts to get within five points, 28-23.
"We got back in the game, the crowd got back into it. It gave us the momentum," Eugene McCrory (8 points, 5 rebounds off the bench) said. "We saw Louisville backing off of us a little bit and we just said we have to use that attack. (In the) second half they hit those crucial 3s and it gave them momentum and we just looked down on ourselves. We're just going to get back at it tomorrow at practice."
UCF was hosting a ranked team for only the fourth time in program history, and the Cardinals were the highest ranked squad to visit CFE Arena since the facility opened in 2007.
The Knights entered the game having shot 50.0 percent from deep in their last four contests, but made only 3-of-14 (21.4 percent) 3-point attempts Tuesday. UCF shot 35.0 percent overall, but did connect on 20-of-27 (74.1 percent) of its foul shots. The Knights finished with a 39-34 edge on the glass.