ORLANDO – The UCF men's basketball team held SMU to just 14 first-half points and held on for a 61-58 home victory to snap a three-game losing skid Wednesday night in an American Athletic Conference contest at Addition Financial Arena.
The Knights (15-14, 6-11) opened with the first 19 points of the game, keeping the Mustangs (19-10, 9-8) off the scoreboard for the first eight minutes and 51 seconds of the night. UCF led by as many as 22 points, at 28-6 with 3:30 to play in the frame, before cruising to a 33-14 halftime advantage.
The defense was outstanding in the first half, holding SMU to just 4-of-20 from the field and 0-of-7 from 3-point range. The 14 points scored marked the lowest total by a UCF opponent in a half during the Johnny Dawkins era, having previously held Cincinnati to 15 points in the first half on Jan. 6, 2018.
"It started on the defensive end," Dawkins said. "We came out with an aggressiveness. We were alert, focused. We were hitting on all cylinders offensively too. We moved the basketball. We shared it. You started to see all those things come together for us."
Darin Green Jr. and Brandon Mahan led UCF in scoring in the first half with 10 points each. Green knocked down 3-of-5 shots from beyond the arc, while Mahan was 2-of-3 from 3-point range in the first 20 minutes.
The Knights didn't have the same success in the second half, as SMU scored the first seven points and eventually caught all the way up, taking a 49-48 lead with 6:11 to play in the game.
Dazon Ingram then found Frank Bertz for a layup to retake the lead, and Ceasar DeJesus connected on a floater in the lane, got fouled and hit the free throw to put the Knights back in front by four points.
The Mustangs didn't give up there, though. SMU used a 7-0 run that included four straight free throws and a banked-in 3-pointer from the top of the key by Kendric Davis that put the Mustangs ahead 58-56 with just 1:47 to play in the game.
Collin Smith, who ended up leading the Knights with 19 points and seven rebounds in the victory, came up big down the stretch. He made a pair of free throws with 1:17 to play to tie the game and then drew another foul to head to the line with 40 seconds remaining.
After Smith hit the first, he missed the second, but Mahan came up with what might have been the biggest play of the game. He grabbed the offensive rebound and drew another foul on the Mustangs. He stepped to the line and knocked down two to put UCF up by three, 61-58, with 39 seconds to play.
"Brandon made probably the biggest play of the game," Dawkins said after the game. "He was on the line looking to make a play and I think he made probably the biggest basketball play, other than the defensive stop at the end."
The final stop was impressive. After an SMU timeout with 16 seconds left, the Knights locked in and played defense, the type of defense UCF has been known for the last four years. After using all 16 seconds, Tyson Jolly's 3-pointer rimmed out and the Knights earned the 3-point victory.
"I give our guys credit," Dawkins said. "Because when that happens, and you get all the way (to the point) where you lose the lead, it shows what you're made of. We were able to fight back, regain the lead and win a really good ball game."
Smith's 19 points led the way, while Green finished with 13 on 4-of-8 from beyond the arc and Mahan had 12 on 2-of-4 shooting from 3-point range.
UCF returns to action on Sunday against ECU. The Knights and the Pirates are set to play at 2 p.m. for Senior Day with coverage on ESPNU and FM 96.9 The Game.
GET THE APP
Never miss any UCF Knights news from your favorite team by downloading the free UCF Gameday app right to your iOS or Android phone. The app provides personalized information for men's and women's teams, scores, schedules, loyalty programs and even breaking news. Click here to download the app now.
