ORLANDO – After recording the fourth-largest crowd in program history at Wednesday night's contest, the UCF men's basketball team returns to the floor on Saturday, as the squad plays host to Temple. Tipoff is set for noon inside Addition Financial Arena and the game will be broadcast live on ESPNU.
The Knights' home game prior to the tilt with No. 3 Houston on Wednesday was a 107-104 double overtime victory over Memphis back on Jan. 11. UCF had lost a 13-point edge in the first half and found themselves down 14 points early in the second after 16 unanswered points from the Tigers. The Black and Gold didn't back down though, erasing a seven-point margin with five minutes left in front of nearly 7,000 strong in Addition Financial Arena to force overtime and eventually earn the victory in the second segment of extra time.
UCF was looking to use the crowd of 9,383 at Wednesday night's game to spring an upset on the Cougars in the Knights' first game in Orlando since the Memphis game. The Black and Gold fell in two tough games on the road, losing to Tulane 77-69 and South Florida 85-72.
Returning to the familiar confines of their home arena, the Knights went toe-to-toe with Houston, hosting a top-five team for the first time in program history. The Black and Gold trailed by just four at halftime, 38-34. UCF continued to fight throughout, cutting the deficit to three with 14:37 left in the contest. The Cougars countered back, building a 13-point lead with 10 minutes to go in the game. The Black and Gold, nor the Knight faithful, backed down, cutting the deficit back to five with seven minutes left on the clock. Houston powered its way down the stretch, outscoring the Knights 15-9 in the final seven minutes of play to earn the 82-71 win.
UCF looks to get back on track against a hot Temple team, a squad that entered conference play 6-7 and now boasts a league mark of 7-2 with a 13.9 overall record. The Owls have won three straight contests, with the most noticeable win on that run being the upset over No. 1 Houston in Texas, a 56-55 result. The win over Houston, along with the earlier win over Rutgers back on Nov. 18, are both quad one victories in the NCAA Net Rankings. Temple is 4-0 on the road in conference play and 5-2 overall this season when playing in true away games.
Khalif Battle leads the Owls in scoring, averaging 17.4 points per game in 22 contests with just eight starts. Just behind battle is Damian Dunn, who averages 15.2 points a contest. Jamile Reynolds is the third and final member of the Temple squad averaging double-digit points, recording a 10.3 clip while also grabbing 6.0 rebounds a game. Jahlil White has grabbed the most boards on the team, collecting a total of 112. A win for Temple would mean the Owls have opened a conference slate with five straight road victories for the first time since the 1987-88 season when they were a part of the Atlantic 10 and went 9-0 on the road and 18-0 in league play.
The Knights are hoping to cool off the Owls and will look to do so behind the top three-point shooting offense in The American, as UCF has posted a 36.1% beyond the arc this season. C.J. Kelly, Ithiel Horton, Taylor Hendricks, Darius Johnson and Tyem Freeman have all averaged double-digit scoring in league play, posting clips of 15.0, 14.0, 13.0, 12.0 and 10.4 points per game, respectively. Kelly has shot 48.8% from three-point land on 43 attempts. Hendricks brings a streak of 13-straight games with a block into the contest, two shy of tying Tacko Fall's 15-straight streak, which he achieved to end the 2015-16. Fall continued his streak into the following campaign, finishing the run with 29 consecutive games with a block.
UCF will be missing a big man from the lineup for the fifth straight contest as Michael Durr continues to be sidelined with a hand injury. At the time of Durr's injury, UCF had the No. 19 scoring defense in the country, holding opponents to 60.5 points per game. In games where Durr doesn't play, UCF has allowed 80.8 points per game. Discounting the points scored in overtime, UCF holds opponents to 58.1 points in regulation in games that Durr plays and allows 75.6 in games that he doesn't, a 17.5-point swing. The rebounding difference can be felt as well, as UCF has a 4.8 rebounds per game edge in games in which Durr is active and is even with its opponents in games where he is missing.
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