ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFKnights.com) – After Tuesday night's 48-45 win over visiting East Carolina, the UCF men's basketball stands alone in first place of the American Athletic Conference standings at 3-0. It marks the Knights' first 3-0 start to league play since the inception of The American in 2013-14.
"Well it was a defensive battle," UCF head coach Johnny Dawkins said. "They had a very good game plan and I thought they executed it well. On the other end, we played some great defense. The offense probably looked ugly, but I think that both teams really stepped it up a level defensively and made it a tough, grind it out game."
After a blowout win over Temple on Saturday, Tuesday's fifth straight victory did not come quite as easy for UCF. The Knights (12-3, 3-0 AAC) let a 17-point second half lead slip away in the final six minutes of action, before holding on for the three-point win.
East Carolina (9-7, 1-2 AAC) used pressure defense and three-point shooting to climb back in it and nearly upset the Knights at CFE Arena. The Pirates turned the Knights over 20 times in the game and hit five of their seven total three-pointers in the final 5:07 of the contest.
After ECU scored the first seven points of the game and held UCF scoreless for the first 6:13, the Knights used a 20-2 run to take a 20-9 lead late in the first half. The Knights held the Pirates scoreless for nearly seven and a half minutes after struggling to score at the start of the contest and went into the break leading 23-15.
UCF quickly extended its lead in the second half, using an 8-0 run to take a 35-20 advantage with 11:02 to play in the game. Senior Matt Williams ignited the spurt with one of his two three-pointers on the day, while sophomore Chad Brown finished it off with five straight points, including a put-back dunk that got the crowd on its feet.
"Chad has always stepped up when we needed him this entire year," Dawkins said. "We talked about guys being dependable; you know what you're going to get from Chad. When Chad steps on the floor, he is going to give max effort on every single play. That usually leads you to success."
The Knights needed Brown on a night that Tacko Fall failed to score and went 0-of-6 from the floor. Brown finished with 11 points and four rebounds in just 11 minutes of play off the bench.
Brown was good, and Williams was solid with 13 points on the night, but it was the return of B.J. Taylor that ultimately led UCF to victory. The point guard, who missed the last seven games due to a thumb injury, led the Knights with 19 points in his first game since Dec. 3.
"It's great to have B.J. back," Dawkins said. "I thought he played one of his best games, considering he's been out for seven. He picked a great night to have one of his best performances. He stepped up for us in a lot of ways."
Taylor was huge down the stretch, scoring seven straight UCF points to help the Knights hang on. His three-pointer with the shot clock running down ended a 16-1 ECU run that cut UCF's lead from 17 points to just two, with 1:25 left on the clock.
He scored seven of the Knights' final eight points and went 10-of-12 from the free throw line in the game to secure the victory.
"My whole mindset going into every game is to win," Taylor said. "I was just thinking about what our team needed at the time. As a point guard I need to be able to feel out those situations, and I felt like [making that shot] could be a big play to help us win the game."
Taylor knows that although the Knights are now 12-3, matching last season's win total for the entire year, UCF still has room to grow.
"We know that if we lose focus that the other team can make a run and they will make a run," he said. "We have to learn to stay locked in for a full 40 minutes. That's the good thing about our team; it's a positive in that we haven't played a full 40 minutes yet."
The Knights will have their next opportunity to play a full 40 minutes when they travel to Hartford, Conn., to take on UConn. UCF will challenge the Huskies on Sunday at 5 p.m. on CBS Sports Network.
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