Nov. 26, 2014
UCF Athletics Social Media Directory
By Dan Forcella
UCFKnights.com
Box Score (pdf) | Box Score (html) | Quotes | Social Media Recap
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFKnights.com) - The UCF men's basketball team dropped its first game of the season, falling to visiting Davidson 95-69 Wednesday night at CFE Arena. Jack Gibbs went off for a career high 37 points in the Wildcats' victory.
The Knights (3-1) got out to a great start, taking an 11-5 lead on a driving layin by freshman B.J. Taylor just over minutes into the game. Following the ensuing media timeout, Davidson (3-1) used a 7-0 run, including back-to-back buckets by Gibbs to gain a 12-11 advantage.
UCF continued to battle, leading as late as the 7:50 mark in the first half, when Taylor found junior Shaheed Davis for a three-pointer that made it 24-23 in favor of the Knights. Gibbs countered with two straight buckets and ignited a 20-8 run that put the Wildcats up by double digits at 43-32.
Junior Dylan Karell threw down a dunk and then tipped in a missed layup to end the half on a positive note for the Knights. UCF trailed 45-38 at the break, but had allowed Gibbs to score 22 points on 9-of-10 shooting from the floor.
"Davidson played very well tonight," UCF head coach Donnie Jones said. "They were shooting very well and when a team is shooting the basketball that well it makes it hard. We tried to make some adjustments, but I don't want to take anything away from them. We know this would be a very good test for our young basketball team early on and I give them credit for the victory."
Freshman Adonys Henriquez opened up the second period with a pull-up jumper to cut the deficit to five points, but Davidson went off from there. Over the next 11 minutes the Wildcats outscored the Knights 35-15 to blow it open, 80-55, before cruising to the 95-69 win.
KNIGHTS STRUGGLE TO STOP GIBBS
- The Davidson guard scored a career high 37 points to lead the Wildcats.
- The sophomore's previous best was 20 points last season.
- Gibbs went 15-of-17 from the floor and 5-of-7 from beyond the arc.
- His 37 were the second most ever by a UCF opponent at CFE Arena (Randy Culpeper of UTEP went for 39 on Jan. 23, 2010).
WALKER SHOWS WELL
? Daiquan Walker led the Knights with 15 points in the defeat.
? Walker played 31 minutes after starting point guard B.J. Taylor was hampered by an injury in the first half.
? He knocked down three from beyond the arc.
WILDCAT DUO SINKS KNIGHTS
Davidson used Gibbs and Tyler Kalinoski to defeat the Knights, as the pair scored 62 of the Wildcats' 95 points. Kalinoski went 5-for-10 from distance and totaled 25 points in the victory. The guard scored 21 of his 25 in the second half. The only other Davidson player to score in double figures was Nathan Ekwu with 11 off the bench.
KNIGHTS COLD FROM THREE
- The Knights came into Wednesday's game leading the American Athletic Conference with a three-point field goal percentage of .400.
- UCF shot just 18.2 percent against Davidson, going 4-of-22.
- Senior Kasey Wilson and Henriquez were both 0-for-5 from three-point range.
POSITIVE POINTS
? Henriquez showed well from inside the arc, going 6-for-9 from two-point range for 14 points.
? Wilson was similarly effective getting to the rim, scoring 13 points on 5-of-6 on non-three-pointers.
? The Knights shot 54.8 percent from the floor (17-of-31) in the first half.
POSTGAME AUDIO
Head Coach Donnie Jones
Kasey Wilson, Daiquan Walker
NEXT UP FOR THE KNIGHTS
UCF will continue the homestand after Thanksgiving, hosting Bethune-Cookman on Sunday. The Knights and the Wildcats are scheduled to tip-off at 6 p.m. on ESPN3 and the UCF IMG Sports Network.