NORMAL, Ill. – Trailing for nearly 33 minutes of a 40-minute game, the UCF men's basketball never gave up and fought back from multiple nine-point deficits to defeat Illinois State 67-65 on the road Sunday afternoon at Redbird Arena.
"We beat a very good basketball team today," UCF head coach Johnny Dawkins said. "I was very impressed. I was happy with our guys' fight. They showed maturity and stuck to the game plan, giving us an opportunity to win at the end."
Down six with just 3:15 to play, the Knights (2-1) battled back as junior Brandon Mahan converted an offensive rebound into a putback layup to cut the deficit to four points. A steal, forcing a foul, and then two free throws from freshman Darin Green Jr. made it just a two-point difference with 2:16 to play.
Back-and-forth action continued until junior Avery Diggs sent a Redbird shot away with a block in the corner. The Knights took the action the other way, and after a missed three by Mahan and offensive board from Diggs, Green knocked down a triple to give UCF its first lead since 7:50 to play in the first half.
After Illinois State's Rey Idowu hit a layup to give the lead back to the Redbirds, it was Mahan again who grabbed an offensive rebound and put it up to make it 66-65 in favor of the Knights with just 25 seconds left on the clock.
The Knights made two defensive stops in a row before Mahan eventually got fouled and hit one-of-two from the stripe to make it 67-65. As Illinois State's final attempt from halfcourt didn't go, the buzzer sounded and UCF gave the Redbirds (2-1) their first loss of the 2019-20 season.
It was Mahan all night long who came up big off the bench. The junior had a season-high 17 points and a career-high 10 rebounds to record the first double-double of his career. He knocked down three 3-pointers and had four offensive boards in the victory.
Junior forward Collin Smith led the way offensively though, scoring 18 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the field and 6-of-9 shooting from the free throw line. The forward had six rebounds and one blocked shot.
The Knights had three players in all who finished with double figures off the bench. Green had a career-high 13 points on a trio of 3-pointers, while Diggs totaled 10 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two blocks in the win.
"We have confidence in our bench," Dawkins said. "Those guys stepped up tonight. They gave us a lift."
Illinois State was led by Dedric Boyd, who had 22 on 10-of-15 shooting and two others off the bench with double figures. Matt Chastain totaled 12, while Antonio Reeves added 11 in the defeat.
UCF will return to action on Saturday, hosting Charleston. The Knights and the Cougars are scheduled to tip off at 2 p.m. with coverage on ESPN3 and FM 96.9 The Game.
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