ORLANDO – Fresh off a win against SMU, the UCF men's basketball team will return to action Sunday afternoon in the final regular season game of the season, hosting ECU at 2 p.m. with coverage on ESPNU and FM 96.9 The Game.
The Knights (15-14, 6-11) will look for back-to-back wins before heading into the American Athletic Conference Tournament next week and will aim to sweep the season series against the Pirates (11-19, 5-12), who come to Orlando just one game behind UCF in the standings.
Sunday will also mark Senior Day as UCF will honor its three seniors, Frank Bertz, Dazon Ingram and Matt Milon.
Bertz has scored 213 points in 60 games during his two years with the Knights. He has hit 47 three-pointers, grabbed 109 rebounds and shot 82 percent from the free throw line. Bertz was an integral piece of last year's team that made the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament, scoring nine points on a trio of 3-pointers in the NCAA Tournament win over VCU.
After transferring in for his final season from Alabama, Ingram has averaged 8.2 points and 6.8 rebounds per game in his senior year for the Knights. With over 1,200 points in his career, Ingram is among the league leaders in rebounds, assists and assist-to-turnover ratio.
A native of Oviedo, Florida, Milon also came to UCF for his last season of college basketball after playing at both Boston College and William & Mary. He has scored over 1,100 points in his career, including 171 at UCF. Milon has hit 39 threes as a Knight and 244 in his four years of college basketball.
GAME INFO
Date: Sunday, March 8
Time: 2 p.m. ET
TV: ESPNU
Radio: FM 96.9 The Game
SETTING THE SCENE
- After starting the season 9-2, the UCF men's basketball team has gone just 6-11 during league play and holds an overall mark of 15-14 going into the final game of the regular season.
- The Knights are currently tied for eighth place in the league with Temple and South Florida, but have wins over first-place Tulsa and second-place Cincinnati.
- Following Sunday's game, UCF will begin preparation for the first round of the American Athletic Conference Tournament, Thursday, in Fort Worth, Texas.
SHUTDOWN SMU
- The Knights snapped their three-game losing skid by defeating SMU 61-58 at home on Wednesday.
- UCF held the Mustangs to just 14 points in the first half, leading 33-14 at the break.
- It marked the lowest point total in a half by a UCF opponent since Florida Tech scored just 12 points in the first half back on Nov. 24, 2006, the lowest opponent point total in a half on record for UCF in its Division I history.
- The Knights held SMU to 4-of-20 shooting from the field and 0-of-7 from 3-point range in the first half before holding on for the three-point victory.
EATING AGAINST EAST CAROLINA
- UCF owns a 22-9 advantage over East Carolina in the all-time series between the two teams, which dates back to 2000 when the Knights won 88-81 in Orlando.
- The Black and Gold came out on top in the first nine games, with ECU's first victory over UCF coming on Feb. 7, 2009, an 89-75 win in Greenville.
- The Knights have won each of the last eight games between the two teams, beginning with a road win on Jan. 2, 2016 and continuing through the win in Greenville earlier this season.
- The last time ECU defeated UCF was March 12, 2015, an 81-80 overtime win in the first round of the American Athletic Conference Championship.
GREEN GOING WILD
- Back on Feb. 6 the Knights went to Greenville and won 68-64 over ECU.
- UCF led 27-24 at halftime but extended its lead to as many as 17 points before holding on.
- The Knights shot 43.5 percent from 3-point range in the win, connecting on 10 threes.
- Matt Milon was 5-for-8 from beyond the arc, while Darin Green Jr. was 3-of-5 from long distance to lead UCF to the victory.
- Milon finished with 17, Green had 13 and Collin Smith added 14 points with seven rebounds in the win.
- ECU's Tristen Newton led all scorers in the game with 23 points, while Jayden Gardner had 15 points and 12 rebounds in the loss.
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