ORLANDO – The UCF men's basketball team aims to continue its positive momentum on Tuesday after taking down no. 15 Florida State on Saturday. The Knights host Cincinnati at 4 p.m. in their American Athletic Conference opener.
UCF (2-1, 0-0) already has wins over Auburn and the 15th-ranked Seminoles, and looks to earn its second consecutive win over the Bearcats on Tuesday.
The Knights got 32 points from Brandon Mahan, 22 points and eight rebounds from Isaiah Adams, and 20 points on six 3-pointers from Darin Green Jr. in the victory over Florida State. It was the fifth win over a ranked opponent for UCF since head coach Johnny Dawkins took over in 2016.
Saturday will be the second league contest for Cincinnati (2-4, 0-1), which lost to South Florida to start conference action, and most recently fell at Georgia. The Bearcats shared the league regular season title last season.
The Knights and the Bearcats split the season series a year go with each team winning in the other team's arena. Cincinnati holds a 6-2 advantage over UCF in games played in Orlando.
Game Information
Date: Tuesday, Dec. 22
Time: 4 p.m. ET
TV: ESPN+
Radio: FM 96.9 The Game
KNOCKING OFF THE NOLES
- UCF went into Tallahassee on Saturday and defeated 15th-ranked Florida State 86-74.
- It snapped a number of streaks for the Seminoles, including their 27-game home winning streak, their 41-game non-conference home winning streak, and their 31-game winning streak in games played in the state of Florida.
- Brandon Mahan (32 points), Isaiah Adams (22 points) and Darin Green Jr. (20 points) led the way, as UCF outrebounded Florida State 32-25 on the night.
- It marked the first ranked opponent UCF has defeated this season, but the fifth that the Knights have taken down since Dawkins took over for the 2016-17 season.
- It was also UCF's first win over Florida State in 12 all-time games against the Noles. UCF had lost all eight games in the series in Tallahassee, before winning on Saturday.
BEATING RANKED OPPONENTS
- Prior to Dawkins' arrival at UCF, the program had won three games against ranked opponents from 1984-2016. Since Dawkins has taken over, the Knights have won five games against ranked opponents in just over four seasons.
- UCF had never won two games against ranked teams in a single season, and the Knights did it in a span of five days, taking down no. 6 Houston and no. 19 Cincinnati late in the 2018-19 season.
- The Knights are now 8-46 all-time against ranked opponents, but 5-12 against ranked teams under Dawkins.
MR. BASKETBALL MAKING HIS MARK
- Isaiah Adams, the first Florida Mr. Basketball to sign at UCF, has made an immediate impact as a freshman with the Knights.
- Adams scored nine points, grabbed three rebounds and had two steals in his collegiate debut, playing 14 minutes off the bench in the win over Auburn.
- He then scored in double figures with 11 points and grabbed two steals in the loss at Michigan.
- In the win at no. 15 Florida State he took it to another level, scoring 22 points, going 9-of-12 from the free throw line and grabbing a game high eight rebounds.
- Adams currently leads The American with 2.3 steals per game.
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