Shredding Waves

Feb. 19, 2015

UCF Athletics Social Media Directory

Story by Dan Forcella
Video by Clayton Metz
UCFKnights.com

Box Score (pdf) | Box Score (html) | Social Media Recap | Infographic

NEW ORLEANS, La. (UCFKnights.com) - The UCF men's basketball team was on fire from beyond the arc, shooting 60 percent from three-point range to earn its third straight win of the season. The Knights defeated Tulane 69-55 in New Orleans Thursday night.

After falling behind 16-9 early in the game, UCF (12-13, 5-9) used a 25-8 run to close the second half and took a 34-24 lead into the break. The spurt was sparked by a B.J. Taylor three-pointer assisted by Brandon Goodwin as the Knights scored nine straight points.

"Confidence is everything," UCF head coach Donnie Jones said after the game. "That's the beauty of sport. We had some shots go down. We kept chipping away, made some plays, and did a good job of never looking back. We made shots, but we took good shots. That's a credit to our spacing."

Senior Kasey Wilson, who had nine points on three triples in the first half, got UCF out to a good start in the second, knocking down his fourth three on the first possession of the frame. Goodwin then fed junior Staphon Blair for a layup to put UCF up 39-24.

The Green Wave (14-11, 5-8) fought back, cutting the Knights' lead to nine points twice, at 54-45 and 57-48, but UCF stayed hot. The Knights used a 9-2 run capped by back-to-back threes from freshman Adonys Henriquez and Taylor to extend their lead to 16 points, their largest of the game, before cruising to the 69-55 victory.

JONES AND WILSON RECAP THE WIN

KNIGHTS SHOOT 60 PERCENT FROM LONG DISTANCE
The Knights got out to a hot start, shooting 13-of-22 (.591) from the floor and 7-of-13 (.538) from three-point range in the first half, but it didn't stop there. UCF pace overall, going 11-of-23 (.478) from the field in the second half, and stepped it up from long range. The Knights went 5-of-7 (.714) from beyond the arc over the final 20 minutes.

- The Knights went 12-of-20 from three-point range for the game.
- It was UCF's fourth game of the season with double-digit threes made.
- The 12 made three-pointers were a season high.
- The .600 shooting from beyond the arc was also the best for UCF in 2014-15.

"Brandon [Goodwin] did a great job of finding us. It was big to get penetration and good ball movement. When we were open we were knocking them down. We were making shots and it felt good."
- Kasey Wilson

WILSON SCORES CAREER HIGH 21 POINTS
For the third straight game Kasey Wilson scored in double figures, but on Thursday he had his best offensive outing yet. The senior scored a career high 21 points on 5-of-7 shooting from beyond the arc.

Wilson also went 6-of-8 from the free throw line and grabbed nine rebounds. The forward eclipsed the 500-rebound mark for his career in the game, now with 502 in four seasons.

"I was really happy that Kasey Wilson continued to play the way that we need him to play. He's a senior and we've really played off of his leadership."
- Donnie Jones

GOODWIN NEARLY BREAKS SCHOOL RECORD WITH 13 ASSISTS
- Brandon Goodwin led all players with a career high 13 assists.
- The point guard has recorded at least three helpers in each of the last six games.
- He has 25 assists over the last three games for an average of 8.33 per contest.
- Goodwin also scored six points, grabbed three rebounds, and turned the ball over just two times.

The 13 assists by Goodwin marked the most by a Knight since A.J. Rompza had 13 at Marshall Feb. 27, 2010. It was just one shy of the school record of 14 assists held by both Kingsley Edwards (1/16/05) and Cory Perry (2/20/99).

UCF SHUTS DOWN TULANE'S LEADING SCORER
Tulane's Louis Dabney came into Thursday's game as the team's leading scorer with 13.1 points per game. Guarded most of the night by Goodwin, Dabney went just 1-of-12 from the floor and 0-of-6 from three-point range for three total points.

"One of our main focuses was to shut Dabney down. If we shut down one of their key players then they have to rely on other guys to make plays. That's what we did tonight and we ended up getting the win."
- Kasey Wilson

DIAPER DANDY DUO STELLAR AGAIN
B.J. Taylor and Adonys Henriquez scored 16 and 15 points, respectively. Taylor went 6-of-10 from the floor and 4-of-6 from beyond the arc, while Henriquez was 6-of-11 from the field and 3-of-6 from downtown.

POSTGAME AUDIO
Senior Kasey Wilson

Head Coach Donnie Jones

NEXT UP FOR THE KNIGHTS
UCF will next return home to host Memphis on Sunday. The Knights and the Tigers are scheduled to tip at 2 p.m. on the CBS Sports Network.

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