ORLANDO – The UCF men's basketball team (13-8, 5-6 AAC) is gearing up for its third game in six days as the Knights welcome Wichita State (12-8, 3-5 AAC) to Addition Financial Arena on Tuesday, Feb. 9 for a 9:00 p.m. showdown with the Shockers on ESPNU.
In addition to the live broadcast on ESPNU, fans can also tune in to 96.9 The Game to hear the voice of the Knights, Marc Daniels, on the call.
The Shockers began American Athletic Conference play 0-4 before picking up their first win with a victory over UCF behind Ricky Council IV's 31 points on Jan. 26. Since then, they have fallen to Tulane (67-66) before rebounding against Tulsa (58-48).
In a season full of highs and lows, the Knights are coming off a week that saw them dismantle rivals South Florida in Orlando, 68-49, before falling to Memphis on the road, 88-60. UCF is led by a pair of upper-classmen guards in Darius Perry and Darin Green Jr.
Green currently leads all Knights with 13.7 points per game, while his 2.90 threes per game lead the conference and his 40.1 three-point field goal percentage ranks third in the league.
Perry, meanwhile, is second on the team with 11.3 points per game. He's coming off a week that saw him named to the AAC honor roll for the second time this season after averaging 14.0 points, 6.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game against the Bulls and Tigers. In the win over South Florida on Thursday, he hit five 3-pointers on the way to a 20-point performance.
The Shockers have had UCF's number since the two side first met on Jan. 25, 2018. Since then, UCF has yet to defeat Wichita State, and the Shockers lead the all-time series, 8-0.
Tuesday night's game marks the second of two regular season matchups between the two programs as the Knights fell to the Shockers, 84-79, back on Jan. 26 in Wichita.
Game Information
Date: Tuesday, Feb. 9
Time: 9 p.m. ET
TV: ESPNU
Radio: FM 96.9 The Game
DAWKINS ERA AT UCF
- Johnny Dawkins picked up career win No. 100 in the Knights' win over N.C. A&T on Dec. 11, becoming just the third coach in UCF history to reach the milestone.
- Dawkins is 106-68 since starting with the Knights in 2016, a win percentage of .615, the second best of any UCF coach (Torchy Clark, .754 from 1969-83).
- He has the third most wins over any UCF coach, trailing only Clark's 274 and Kirk Speraw's 247 from 1993-2010.
- Dawkins is the fastest coach to reach 100 wins in program history in the Division I era, needing only 162 games to do so.
- Dawkins had his squad off to a 4-0 start to begin the 2021-22 season, tying his 2017-18 mark for his best start to a season at UCF.
- Dawkins has led UCF to its first NIT Final Four (2017), first at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament (2019) and first NCAA Tournament win (2019).
- 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.
- 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 8-50 all-time against ranked opponents, but 5-17 against ranked teams under Dawkins.
GREEN IS GOOD
- Junior Darin Green Jr. has made a big leap forward in year three with the Knights as he leads the team with 13.5 points per game to open the season.
- Green has led the team in points in 11 out of 21 games, with double-digit points in all but seven games.
- He was named to the American Athletic Conference honor roll on 11/15 and 12/13.
- His 40.1 percent mark on threes is third in the AAC and he is first in the conference with 2.90 threes per game.
- He has posted four games with five made threes (11/27 vs Oklahoma, 11/13 at Miami, 12/30 vs Michigan and 02/03 vs South Florida).
- Green led all Knights with 20 points (8-of-14 shooting and 4-of-9 from three) and added four rebounds to help UCF take down Memhis, 74-64, on Jan. 12
- Against Michigan, Green was 7-of-9 on threes and led the team with 27 points.
- He also posted a team-high 23-point effort in UCF's 95-89 win at Miami on Nov. 13.
- Green was solid in year two for the Knights during the 2020-21 season, averaging 11.3 points per game, which ranked 17th in the conference and third on the team.
- The Charlotte, North Carolina product also led the Knights with 53 made 3-pointers in 2020-21 and ranked seventh in the league with 2.3 made threes per game.
- Green was also monumental in UCF's 86-74 win over then 15th-rated Florida State last season as he knocked down six 3-pointers and scored a season-high 20 points against the Seminoles.
- In his freshman season in 2020-21, Green set a UCF freshman record with 68 made 3-pointers
- He led The American with 41.7 percent shooting from 3-point range and 2.3 threes made per game.
PERRY POISED AS POINT GUARD
- Fifth-year senior Darius Perry proved to be a leader for the Knights in his first season in Orlando, leading the way with 14.7 points per game in 2020-21, good for seventh in the conference.
- Perry was named a team captain, along with Cheikh Mbacke Diong and Levy Renaud to begin the 2021-22 season.
- Perry immediately proved to be worthy of that honor as he led the Knights with 18 points, four assists and four offensive rebounds to help the Knights edge out Robert Morris in their season opener.
- Perry is fourth in the conference with 4.7 assists per game.
- He is second on the team with 11.3 points per game and has twice been named to the AAC honor roll (Dec. 27 and Feb. 7)
- The former Louisville Cardinal was a third-team all-conference honoree last season.
- Perry also led UCF in assists with 3.4 per contest, was second among qualifiers with a 38.3 three-point field goal percentage and was second behind only Mahan with a 86.4 free throw percentage.
- Perry made 10 made 3-pointers against Tulsa (Feb. 6) and Wichita State (Feb. 10) in 2020-21, which were 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.
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