CINCINNATI—The men's basketball teams from both UCF and Cincinnati had made a habit of playing one-possession games of late, and Sunday afternoon proved no exception at Fifth Third Arena.
This time it was the Bearcats who essentially made one more play than the Knights to survive 69-68 for their fourth straight win, all by three or fewer points. Meanwhile, the last three UCF games—played in a five-day span--now have been determined by three or fewer points.
After Knight senior Darius Perry missed a potential game-tying three-pointer with four seconds left, Cincinnati's Mason Madsen hit the second of two free throws with two seconds to go. That proved to be the difference after Perry canned an off-balance three at the final buzzer.
"We had a designed play (on the potential tying possession that began with 11.3 seconds to go) and we did not execute as well as we would have liked, but we've been riding hm (Perry) and he's been very good for us in these type of situations," said UCF coach Johnny Dawkins.
"We rode with him again tonight and came up a little short. I don't fault anyone—we closed the game pretty well considering everything we were battling."
Brandon Mahan paced the Knights with 21 points, connecting on five of eight three-pointers, to go with seven rebounds. Perry had 17 points, while CJ Walker added 12 and a game-high 10 rebounds. Dre Fuller Jr. contributed 11 points for UCF. Mahan had 25 points when these same teams played in December.
"CJ was more active offensively—he's getting more comfortable in his role. He gave us a huge lift, especially on the offensive boards," added Dawkins.
Cincinnati also had four double-figure scorers, led by David DeJulius and Keith Williams with 14 points each. Eleven of DeJulius' points came in the second half.
UCF had only eight turnovers while forcing nine by the Bearcats in the second half alone. Cincinnati finished with a 39-29 rebounding edge, as the Knights shot just 35.4% from the field after intermission.
"We moved the ball well, we're sharing it and making more connecting plays," said Dawkins. "We did not defend as well today as in our three prior games, and we gave up too high a field-goal percentage (48.1% by Cincinnati). We kind of got away from that a little tonight."
UCF never led after its 11-10 advantage early, though a Mahan three tied it at 48 apiece with 7:26 to go.
"It was great having Brandon back. He was very productive tonight and gave us a heck of an effort," Dawkins said.
Both teams came in with a half-dozen overall victories and four league wins. UCF falls to 6-11 overall, 4-10 in American Athletic Conference action. Cincinnati (7-7, 5-4) has won four in a row after a 25-day COVID layoff.
Cincinnati built multiple 10-point first-half leads (knocking down 10 of its first 17 shots), but the Knights scored the final nine points of the half (hitting four of five field-goal attempts) to trail only 35-34 at the break. Mahan, who sat out the Friday win over Tulane with a minor ankle problem, rebounded to hit four of six three-pointers to account for all 12 of his first-half points.
The Bearcats accumulated their lead with an 11-0 run of their own, as UCF went more than six minutes without a field goal. Mika Adams-Woods came off the bench to notch three three-pointers for nine points, while Chris Vogt had eight as he connected on his first four shots.
The Cincinnati victory offset UCF's 75-70 triumph over the Bearcats Dec. 22 in Orlando.
UCF returns to action Wednesday with a home game versus South Florida in the War on I-4 (7 p.m. EST on ESPNU) at Addition Financial Arena.
