ORLANDO – The UCF men's basketball team, fresh off a tough home loss to Wichita State on Wednesday, returns to action Friday night, hosting Tulane at Addition Financial Arena at 7 p.m. with coverage on ESPN+ and FM 96.9 The Game.
The Knights (5-10, 3-9) had a chance to earn their first victory over the Shockers, but Darius Perry's jumper at the buzzer hit back iron. Perry led all players with a career-high 27 points, but it was enough to overcome Wichita State's 18 points off turnovers and 23 bench points.
The Green Wave (8-7, 3-7), meanwhile, are coming off a road win at Tulsa on Wednesday. The Green Wave 58-48 at the Reynolds Center behind 20 points by Jaylen Forbes, holding the Golden Hurricane to 4-of-21 from 3-point range.
UCF leads Tulane 16-4 in the all-time series and 7-1 in games played in Orlando, but the Green Wave got the best of the Knights the last time these two teams met at Addition Financial Arena. Tulane left with a 75-74 victory back on Feb. 22, 2020.
Game Information
Date: Friday, Feb. 12
Time: 7 p.m. ET
TV: ESPN+
Radio: FM 96.9 The Game
Book your stay with one of our UCF area Marriott Hotel partners:
COURTYARD TOWNEPLACE SUITES RESIDENCE INN THE CELESTE HOTEL
Perry Putting Up Points
- Senior grad transfer Darius Perry has been putting up points in his first season with the Knights, currently leading the team with 14.2 points per game.
- Perry would rank 10th in the conference, but he has missed four of UCF's 15 games, needing to play in 15% of contests to qualify.
- The former Louisville Cardinal is averaging 21.0 points per game in last three outings, shooting 51.2 percent from the field and 50.0 percent from 3-point range during the stretch.
- He also leads the Knights with 2.7 assists per game and has had at least two in each of his last eight games played.
- He has bee named to the AAC Weekly Honor Roll one time this year.
- Perry is shooting 82.9 percent from the free throw line and 40.0 percent from 3-point range.
- His 10 made 3-pointers over the last two games are the most made threes in back-to-back games by a Knight since Matt Williams had 10 against Houston and Memphis on Feb. 1 and Feb. 4, 2017.
Shocked by Shockers Again
- After losing in overtime to Wichita State on the road back on Jan. 30, the Knights were again on the wrong side of the scoreboard Wednesday night, falling to the Shockers 61-60 in Orlando.
- This time UCF was coming from behind, but the Knights cut a 4-point Shocker advantage with 30 seconds to go down to one when Perry connected on a 3-point play to make it one with 13 seconds to play.
- Perry then deflected an inbounds pass off a Wichita State player to give UCF the ball with one final possession.
- It was Perry, who had a career-high 27 in the game, who took the final shot, rising up from the free throw line, but hitting back iron as the buzzer sounded.
- The Knights turned the ball over only 12 times, but had just five assists on 22 made field goals.
- UCF held Wichita State leading scorer Tyson Etienne to five points, but Alterique Gilbert came off the bench to score 17 points to lead the Shockers.
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.
- UCF is now 8-48 all-time against ranked opponents, but 5-14 against ranked teams under Dawkins.
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.