EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The UCF men's basketball team is off to a 4-0 start to the season for just the second time in the Johnny Dawkins era (2016-pres.) as the Knights (4-0) made quick work of the Evansville Purple Aces (2-3) at Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana on Saturday.
The Knights made 10-of-20 from beyond the arc and outrebounded Evansville 32-23 to secure the 75-59 road victory. Junior guard Darin Green Jr. led the Knights in double figures with 17 points and senior guard Darius Perry added 15 points and four rebounds to help lead the Black and Gold to victory.
Coming home with the W ??
— UCF Men's Hoops (@UCF_MBB) November 20, 2021
4-0 ? pic.twitter.com/yzRpPfXIaR
"I thought we did a really good job of locking in on their three-point shooters, especially in the second half," said Dawkins. "I thought we made some really good adjustments in the second half – we're going to have to do that as the season progresses. Overall, I thought our guys executed the game plan well."
The two sides were mostly even to begin the game until UCF went on an six-point run late in the first half to take a 30-22 lead. The Knights closed out the first half of play up 39-30 and tacked on in the second half, scoring 36 while holding Evansville to under 30 to secure the 16-point margin of victory, their largest of the season.
First-year Knight Tyem Freeman set a career-high with 11 points in the win after knocking down 4-of-6, including 1-of-2 from three-point range. Meanwhile, coming into the game, UCF led The American and was top 10 in the nation with an 82 percent mark from the line. After knocking down 13 of 14 opportunities in Saturday's win, the Knights are now shooting 84.4 percent from the free throw line.
The Knights haven't put together a 4-0 start since 2017-18, when they opened played with four straight wins before going on to post a 19-13 overall record. With the win at Evansville on Saturday, it's just the second time the Knights have opened a season 4-0 under Dawkins, and just the third time in the last decade and a half that it has happened (2010-11, 2017-18).
UCF will look to keep the strong start to the season going next Saturday, Nov. 27 as the Knights welcome Oklahoma to Addition Financial Arena. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m.