ORLANDO – The UCF men's basketball team aims to get back in the win column on Wednesday when the Knights (3-2, 1-1) host Tulane (5-2, 0-2) in American Athletic Conference action at 7 p.m. from Addition Financial Arena.
UCF is coming off of a home loss to then 6th-ranked Houston this past Saturday. The Knights were tied with the Cougars at halftime and trailed by just four points with two minutes to play, but couldn't pull off the upset.
Tulane, meanwhile, has started league play 0-2 after going 5-0 in non-conference action. The Green Wave have lost to Memphis and East Carolina and look for their first road victory of the season on Wednesday.
UCF and Tulane split the season series last year with each team winning on the other's home court. The second meeting was a heartbreaker for the Knights, as the Green Wave outscored the Black and Gold 10-2 in the final minute and a half to earn a 75-74 win at Addition Financial Arena.
The Knights hold 16-4 advantage in the all-time series and have won seven of the eight games played in Orlando.
Game Information
Date: Wednesday, Dec. 30
Time: 7 p.m. ET
TV: ESPN+
Radio: FM 96.9 The Game
CLASHING WITH #6 COUGARS
- The Knights were tied with 6th-ranked Houston at halftime and trailed by just four points with 2:15 to go, but couldn't pull off the upset on Saturday.
- UCF turned the ball over a season-high 17 times, which led to 12 Houston points off of turnovers.
- The Knights outrebounded the Cougars 38-28, but shot just 2-of-13 from beyond the arc.
- Houston turned the ball over just 10 times and shot 20-of-26 from the free throw line to secure the road victory.
SHOOTING SOLID FROM THE STRIPE
- While they aren't leading the nation like they were a couple of weeks ago, the Knights are still shooting at a solid clip from the free throw line this season, hitting 75.9 percent of their shots from the stripe.
- UCF ranks 41st in the nation and second in the American Athletic Conference.
- Compare that to the last couple years, and it's impressive. Last season, the Knights ranked 172 in the nation and sixth in the league with a mark of 71.1 percent.
- In 2018-19, when UCF went to the NCAA Tournament, the team ranked 329th in the nation and 11th in the league with a 64.9 percent mark from the line.
GREEN IS GOOD
- Green Jr. made quite an impact as a true freshman last season. He was the team's second leading scorer with 10.1 points per game, starting 14 times and playing in all 30 games.
- He set a UCF freshman record with 68 made 3-pointers and led The American with 41.7 percent shooting from 3-point range and 2.3 threes made per game.
- Green was even better during league play, also leading the AAC with 45.5 percent shooting from distance and 2.5 made 3-pointers per game against conference opponents.
- He shot 83.3 percent from the free throw line, was named the league's Freshman of the Week once and earned a spot on the AAC's Weekly Honor Roll once.
- Green scored 20 points on six made 3-pointers in the win at no. 15 Florida State and is currently averaging 12.6 points per game while shooting 41.4 percent from long distance, and knocking down 2.4 threes per game, which ranks sixth in the league.
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