ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFKnights.com) – The UCF men's basketball team continued its strong start to the 2016-17 season with a convincing 67-51 home victory over the visiting Seattle Redhawks Saturday night at CFE Arena.
"I thought we got off to a great start," UCF head coach Johnny Dawkins said. "We really got into a rhythm early and that really helped us in the first half."
The Knights (4-1) scored the first 10 points of the game, including two three-pointers by senior Matt Williams, and never looked back. UCF led the entire game and were led by 20-point efforts by both Williams and sophomore B.J. Taylor.
"We challenged them all week – coming off of the last game we played – that we really had to be better," Dawkins said. "I thought that in a lot of areas, we really did improve. With the combination of handling adversity and the break, I thought our guys were very focused."
The Knights led 33-20 at halftime after an alley oop layup from Williams to Tank Efianayi beat the buzzer.
The Redhawks (2-4) cut UCF's lead to just seven points early in the second half, but the Knights fought back and continued to extend their advantage. Williams' sixth three-pointer of the game made it 56-37 with 5:45 to play in the game, before UCF cruised to the 67-51 victory.
"I have a great deal of respect for that coach – Coach Dollar – as well as his team," Dawkins said. "I've played them, from being on the west coast, so I know that they're going to compete for 40 minutes. I knew coming in that they'd be ready to compete, and they did."
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
B.J. Taylor and Matt Williams have been a model of consistency in the back court
Taylor and Williams led the Knights with 20 points each on Saturday and it marked the fifth straight game to start the year that both have scored in double figures.
- Taylor finished with 20 points on 5-of-9 shooting.
- He added seven assists and a career high four steals.
- Taylor went 10-for-10 from the free throw line and is now 25-of-30 (83%) on the year.
- Williams had 20 on 6-of-12 shooting from beyond the arc.
- His six threes tied a season high and give him 18 for the season.
- Williams now has 170 in his career, moving up to eighth all-time in UCF history.
That Knights defense continues to be impressive
UCF held Seattle to just 51 points and only 20 in the first half. The Knights allowed the Redhawks to shoot just 30.6 percent from the floor and 30.3 percent from three-point range. UCF came into Saturday's game leading the American Athletic Conference in both categories, ranking seventh in the nation in field goal percentage defense and 12th in scoring defense.
"Defensively, we were as good as we've been all year in the first half. To hold a team to 20 points takes a heck of an effort and I thought our guys really delivered that." – Johnny Dawkins
UCF outrebounded its opponent for the fourth time this season
- In all four of the Knights' wins in 2016-17 they have outrebounded their opponent.
- On Saturday night, UCF held a 44-29 advantage on the glass.
- Sophomore Tacko Fall led the way with double figure rebounds for the fourth time in five games this season.
- Fall had 15 to go along with four blocked shots in the victory.
- The Knights are outrebounding their opponents 44.8 to 32.8 on the season.
The Knights had 17 assists on 23 made field goals
UCF was efficient on the offensive end, shooting 46 percent from the floor and 43 percent from beyond the arc. Not coincidentally, the Knights recorded an assist on 74 percent of their baskets in the game, their highest percentage through the early part of the 2016-17 campaign.
COMING UP NEXT
The Knights' will return to CFE Arena Wednesday to host in-state foe Stetson. The Knights and the Hatters will tip-off at 7 p.m. on ESPN3 and FM 96.9 The Game.
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