WASHINGTON, D.C. (UCFKnights.com) – The UCF men's basketball team was upended by George Washington 74-59 Thursday night at the Charles E. Smith Center. Sophomore Tacko Fall led the Knights with 16 points, seven rebounds and four blocks in the loss.
It was the third game that the Knights played without star point guard B.J. Taylor, who has sat out with a hand injury. UCF is 1-2 in those games, defeating Maryland Eastern Shore, but falling to Penn and George Washington.
"The fact is that he's not out there and we still need to find a way to win," UCF head coach Johnny Dawkins said about the absence of Taylor. "We have some senior guys who I know will fight out of it."
UCF led 7-5 early in the second half on a dunk by Fall, but that was the Knights' last lead of the game as the Colonials used a 10-0 run to take an eight-point lead and never looked back. George Washington fought off every UCF run and took a 30-22 lead into the break.
The second half didn't start much better for the Knights, who allowed GW to extend its lead to as many as 25 points when a layup by Jordan Roland made it 67-42 in favor of the Colonials with 5:27 to play in the game.
It was then that the Knights made a move. UCF's 16-2 run cut the disadvantage to just 11 points, at 69-58, but it was too little, too late. The Colonials staved off the Knights' spurt and won 74-59.
"We were battling," Dawkins said of the final five minutes of the game. "I'm proud of our guys. They really hung in there at the end and gave us a chance."
Fall, who came in to Thursday's game leading the nation in field goal percentage (83.3) and rebounding (13.1) had another solid outing in defeat. He went 7-of-10 from the field and had seven boards, four of which were on the offensive end.
Senior Matt Williams also finished in double figures, scoring 11 points on 3-of-8 from beyond the arc.
It was George Washington's duo of Jordan Roland and Tyler Cavanaugh who made the difference. Roland went 9-of-13 from the floor and 5-of-9 from three-point range for a career high 27 points, while Cavanaugh finished with 19 points for the Colonials.
George Washington shot 42.4 percent from the floor as a team, only the second squad to shoot over 40 percent against the Knights this season.
The Knights will return to action on Sunday, Dec. 18. UCF hosts Miami (Ohio) at CFE Arena with tip-off at 12 p.m. on ESPNU and FM 96.9 The Game.
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