Dec. 31, 2014
UCF Athletics Social Media Directory
By Dan Forcella
UCFKnights.com
Box Score (pdf) | Box Score (html) | Social Media Recap | Quotes
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFKnights.com) - The UCF men's basketball team outscored visiting Tulsa 33-20 in the second half, but it wasn't enough as the Hurricane defeated the Knights 56-54 in the American Athletic Conference opener Wednesday afternoon at CFE Arena.
UCF (7-5, 0-1) came out slow, allowing Tulsa (8-5, 1-0) to jet out to an 8-0 lead just over three minutes into the game. The Knights stopped the run on a couple of free throws by junior Staphon Blair and a three-pointer by senior Kasey Wilson, but the Hurricane came right back with a 12-1 spurt to take a commanding 24-9 lead with 8:58 left in the first half.
Sophomore Justin McBride nearly single handedly brought the Knights back into the game with seven straight points. The big man converted a traditional three-point play and followed it up with back to back buckets to cut the deficit to just eight points, at 24-16.
An 8-1 stretch by Tulsa at the end of the first gave the Hurricane a 36-21 lead at halftime. The visitors' advantage remained in double figures for the first 8:25 of the second frame as the two teams traded baskets.
A layup by McBride and a three-pointer by freshman Adonys Henriquez fired up the crowd and got the Knights within six points, at 47-41. It was back-to-back threes from well beyond the line from Henriquez, however, that really made things interesting.
His third and fourth triples of the night tied the game at 49-49 with 6:08 to play. They capped an 18-3 run by the Knights and forced a timeout by Tulsa.
Over two and a half minutes later the Hurricane's James Woodard broke the tie when he converted what was just Tulsa's second three-pointer of the game. The two teams traded baskets down the stretch, concluding with a conventional three-point play by Henriquez that brought the Knights within two, at 56-54 with 1:24 on the clock.
Both defenses stepped up down the stretch as neither team was able to score in the final minute. UCF's final play with 13.4 seconds remaining went off the mark and the Knights were forced to foul. Not yet in the bonus, they were unable to prevent Tulsa from running out the clock and holding on for the two-point win.
KNIGHTS USE STELLAR SECOND HALF TO CLIMB BACK IN
After trailing 36-21 at halftime, UCF outscored Tulsa 33-20 in the second to claw its way back into the contest. The Knights' defense held the Hurricane to just 30.8 percent from the floor and 11.1 percent from beyond the arc in the final 20 minutes. The Knights shot 41.4 percent overall and 45.5 percent from three-point range in the second half to make it a game.
"We challenged them at halftime and I thought they responded the right way. We put ourselves in the situation to win the game."
- Donnie Jones
HENRIQUEZ ON FIRE FROM LONG DISTANCE
- The freshman led the Knights with 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting and 4-of-8 from beyond the arc.
- It marked the third time this season he has led UCF in scoring and the eighth time he has scored in double figures.
- Henriquez has now knocked down multiple three-pointers in eight of 12 games this season, and has hit three or more triples seven times.
EARLY TURNOVERS LEAD TO FIRST HALF DEFICIT
Tulsa forced UCF into 11 first half turnovers to get out to the early lead. The Hurricane scored 14 points off of those 11 miscues, 12 of which came on the fast break. Overall in the first half, Tulsa outscored UCF 14-0 off turnovers and 12-2 on the break. The Hurricane also held a staggering 26-8 advantage in paint points.
MCBRIDE GETS FIRST CAREER DOUBLE-DOUBLE
- The big man recorded the first double-double of his career with 10 points and a career high 10 rebounds.
- McBride went 4-of-6 from the floor and 2-of-2 from the free throw line.
- His previous career high in rebounds was eight, recorded vs. Bethune-Cookman back on Nov. 30.
- It was the third time this season he has scored in double figures.
- Still needing to improve his conditioning, McBride went for a career high 23 minutes on the court.
"I'm bummed out about the loss, of course. Any competitor would be, but I'm excited to see us put two halves together. We could really make some noise in this conference."
- Justin McBride
POSTGAME AUDIO
Head Coach Donnie Jones
Adonys Henriquez, Justin McBride
NEXT UP FOR THE KNIGHTS
UCF will next head out on the road for a pair of American Athletic Conference games. The Knights take on Temple Sunday, Jan. 4 at noon before taking on Houston Tuesday, Jan. 6 at 7 p.m. Both games will air on ESPNews.