Dec. 13, 2014
UCF Athletics Social Media Directory
By Dan Forcella
UCFKnights.com
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ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFKnights.com) - The UCF men's basketball team dropped its third straight game, falling at home to visiting Florida Atlantic 54-41 on Saturday night. The Knights were held to just 16.1 percent shooting from the floor in the second half.
"It's always tough to take a loss like that," head coach Donnie Jones said. "We just had one of those second halves where we couldn't get one to go down. I still believe in this team. It was one game, and there is still a lot of growing going on."
The Knights (5-4) 26-25 at halftime, shooting 8-of-20 from the field and 8-of-12 from the line, while holding the Owls (4-3) to just 32.3 percent from the floor and 22.2 percent from beyond the arc. Freshman B.J. Taylor led UCF with 11 first half points.
Held without a field goal for the final 2:51 of the first half, the Knights went without a bucket in the second half until the clock read 6:29. That was when junior Shaheed Davis' tip-in made it 46-30 in favor of the Owls.
FAU outscored the Knights 21-2 to start the second half, giving up just a free throw each to freshman Adonys Henriquez and Taylor. It was all but over at that point.
UCF outscored the Owls 13-8 to end at 54-41 in favor of Florida Atlantic. The Knights shot 5-of-31 from the floor, 1-of-5 from beyond the arc and 4-of-12 from the free throw line in the final 20 minutes.
Taylor led UCF with 17 points in the game. It is the fourth time he has led the Knights in scoring in the seven games he has played.
"We have to go right back to work," Taylor said after the game. "We can't stay negative. We have to remain positive. We have to keep working, keep grinding every day."
The Knights will get back to work on Sunday in preparation of Detroit visiting CFE Arena on Wednesday, Dec. 17. UCF will host the Titans at 7 p.m. on ESPN3.