Jan. 31, 2015
UCF Athletics Social Media Directory
By Dan Forcella
UCFKnights.com
Box Score (pdf) | Box Score (html) | Social Media Recap | Audio: Donnie Jones | Video: Donnie Jones
DALLAS, Texas (UCFKnights.com) - The UCF men's basketball team allowed a 23-5 run late in the second half, as the Knights fell to SMU by a score of 75-56 Saturday at Moody Colisuem. Freshman Adonys Henriquez recorded career highs of 22 points and six three-pointers in the defeat.
"We played hard in one of the toughest atmospheres in college basketball," UCF head coach Donnie Jones said after the game. "Our kids fought."
The Knights (9-12, 2-8) trailed by just four points, at 51-47 with 10:51 to play in the game before the Mustangs went on their run. SMU (18-4, 9-1) hit its only four three-pointers of the game during the 23-5 stretch, extending the Mustangs lead to 74-52 with just 2:49 remaining.
UCF stayed with the Mustangs thanks in part to the hot shooting of Henriquez. The freshman, who was held to single digits in three out of the last four games, had 14 points on 4-of-6 from beyond the arc in the first half.
Henriquez finished with a game high 22 on 8-of-14 from the floor and 6-of-11 from beyond the arc. His previous bests were 21 points and five threes. It was the first six-triple game of the season for any Knight and marked Henriquez's 14th double figure scoring game of the season.
SMU, who was receiving votes in the most recent Associated Press and USA Today Top 25 polls, shot .592 from the field and .500 from beyond the arc. The Mustangs forced the Knights into 16 turnovers and scored 15 second chance points on the night.
Leading scorer Nic Moore was held to just eight points. The point guard went for 21 against the Knights in Orlando back on Jan. 11. Unfortunately for UCF, he was able to get his teammates involved, dishing out 10 assists.
Ryan Manuel led SMU with 20 points on 9-of-10 from the floor, while Markus Kennedy added 13 points and 11 rebounds, and Yanick Moreira chipped in with 12 points.
"We tried to take Nic Moore out of the game and I thought we did a good job of neutralizing him," Jones said.
UCF, which was without leading scorer B.J. Taylor for the second straight game and lost senior Kasey Wilson after just three minutes in this one, will get a much needed week off of gameplay. The Knights' next game is Saturday, Feb. 7 at East Carolina.