ORLANDO (UCFKnights.com) –The UCF men’s basketball team finished the 2018-19 regular season with an overall record of 23-7, the program’s most wins in a regular season in its NCAA Division I era. The Knights were 13-5 in American Athletic Conference play earning the fourth seed in this weekend’s 2019 Air Force Reserve American Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Championship.
The 13-5 league mark is best conference record for UCF since joining The American. When the Knights were the fourth seed in the tournament two seasons ago, they were 11-7 during league play. As the fourth seed, UCF earned a bye to the quarterfinals and will take on the winner of fifth seeded Memphis and 12th seeded Tulane.
Friday’s quarterfinal game is scheduled for a 2 p.m. ET/1 p.m. CT tipoff from the FedEx Forum in Memphis. Television coverage will be on ESPN2 with Adam Amin and John Thompson III on the call, while FM 96.9 The Game will have radio coverage with Voice of the Knights Marc Daniels calling the action.
Memphis (19-12, 11-7) and Tulane (4-26, 0-18) will play for the chance to take on UCF Thursday at 3 p.m. ET on ESPNU.
UCF split the season series with the Tigers, falling on the road by a score of 77-57 on Jan. 27, but winning at home 79-72 on Feb. 16. Memphis holds a 22-6 advantage over UCF in the all-time series and the Knights have won just one time in 16 tries on the Tigers’ home court. The last time UCF and Memphis met in The American Tournament, the Knights won 84-54 in the 2017 quarterfinals.
The Knights only played Tulane once this season, winning 75-50 in New Orleans on Jan. 23. UCF leads the all-time series against the Green Wave 15-3, having won the last three meetings. The only neutral site matchup between the two teams was at the 2016 American Athletic Conference Championship, when Tulane won 65-63. It was the Green Wave’s only win over UCF in the last decade.
UCF will aim to win in its first American Athletic Conference Championship this weekend and their fifth conference tournament overall. The Knights won the Atlantic Sun Tournament four times in 1994, 1996, 2004 and 2005.