ORLANDO – The UCF men's basketball team came into Saturday's game against Tulane having just earned its most impressive victory of the season, topping Cincinnati on the road, but the Knights were unable to ride that momentum to another win against Tulane, falling 75-74 at Addition Financial Arena.
"That was a tough basketball game," UCF head coach Johnny Dawkins said. "They played a full 40 minutes. I thought we played a good full 37. That was the difference in the ball game. It was a hard-fought game for both teams. I thought they made a few more plays than we did."
Trailing for a majority of the first half, the Knights (14-12, 5-9) used an 8-0 run in the final three minutes to reclaim the lead and take a 39-32 advantage into the break. Darin Green Jr. and Matt Milon hit back-to-back threes, before Tony Johnson Jr. drove the lane to help extend the UCF lead.
The Knights extended their lead to as many as 10 points on multiple occasions in the second half and led by seven with 1:33 to go before the Green Wave (12-15, 4-11) made their final push.
Tulane, which also came off a big win this week, defeating SMU by 12 points at home, outscored the Knights 10-2 in the final minute and a half to sneak out of Orlando with the one-point road victory.
After Collin Smith grabbed one of his game-high and career-high 13 rebounds, he finished in the paint to give UCF a 4-point lead with 18 seconds to play. The Green Wave then scored almost immediately to cut their deficit to two points.
UCF turned the ball over on the inbound with 13 seconds left and Tulane's Nic Thomas was fouled by Brandon Mahan beyond the 3-point line with just 8 second on the clock. Thomas knocked down all three foul shots to give Tulane the 75-74 advantage that stood at the final buzzer.
K.J. Lawson led Tulane with 21 points on 5-of-7 shooting from beyond the arc, while Teshaun Hightower added 18 points and five assists, and Christion Thompson chipped in with 15 points and a team-high nine rebounds.
Smith was the leading scorer for the Knights, finishing with 16 points to go with his 13 boards, his fifth double-double of the year. Tony Johnson Jr., getting his first career start, had 15 points and four assists in the loss.
"I thought Tony was solid today for us," Dawkins said. "I thought he did a good job. He can get to the basket and score the ball. He did a good job running our team, but he still has a lot of room to go. He's a freshman and that's exciting. I see a huge upside in him."
UCF will now head back on the road for a pair of league games against UConn and Tulsa. The Knights and the Huskies are scheduled to tip off at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 26 with coverage on ESPNU and FM 96.9 The Game.
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