ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFKnights.com) – The UCF men's basketball team outscored UConn 26-10 over the final eight minutes of the game, but it wasn't enough to erase an 18-point second deficit, as the Huskies won 66-63 at CFE Arena Saturday night.
"It was a hard fought game," UCF head coach Johnny Dawkins said. "You give them credit. They started the game off well. I'm proud of our guys for how we kept competing. They kept fighting. They gave us a chance at the end which is what we want."
Unable to score for the first 6:13 of the game, the Knights (15-10, 6-7 AAC) quickly turned things around led by as many as seven points midway through the first half. An 8-0 run that included back-to-back threes from Nick Banyard and Matt Williams gave UCF a 16-9 lead with 8:39 to play in the period.
It was then that the Huskies' (12-12, 7-5 AAC) hot three-point shooting gave them the advantage. UConn's Rodney Purvis hit back-to-back threes to regain the lead for the Huskies, at 22-19, it was Purvis again with two threes to end the half and make it 35-23 in favor of UConn at the break.
The Knights, who came into the game leading the nation by allowing opponents to shoot just 35.5 percent from the field and ranked ninth in the nation with a 29.9 three-point field goal percentage, could not stop the Huskies on Saturday. UConn shot a blistering 69.2 percent from beyond the arc. Purvis finished with a team high 18 points on 5-of-6 from three-point range.
"They've been shooting the ball really well from three the last four or five games," Dawkins said. "They are having a stretch of the season where they are shooting lights out right now from behind the arc."
In the second half, UConn extended its lead to as much as 18, holding a 52-34 advantage with 13:42 to play in the game. The Knights run from that point in the game ended up falling just short.
"We had opportunities and just couldn't get the ball to go in," Dawkins said. "There are no moral victories for us, but there are some things our team can learn going forward as we head down the stretch of the season."
B.J. Taylor led UCF with 20 points, while Banyard totaled 13 and Tank Efianayi added 10. Tacko Fall grabbed 11 rebounds, while Banyard chipped in with eight. The Knights finished with 20 offensive rebounds as a team to fuel the comeback.
UCF will be back in action on Tuesday night. The Knights host Tulsa in an American Athletic Conference contest at 7 p.m. on ESPNews.
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