ORLANDO – The UCF men's basketball team returns home for their first contest of 2023 inside Addition Financial Arena as they host SMU on Sunday at 2 p.m.
The Knights were victorious their last time out, beating ECU in Greenville, N.C. by a score of 64-61. C.J. Kelly scored nearly half of UCF's points, tallying 30 points in the win. Taylor Hendricks was the only other double-digit scorer on the night, recording 12 points.
Kelly is the first Knight to score 30 points since Brandon Mahan posted 32 in UCF's upset win at No. 15 FSU on Dec. 19, 2020. No member of the Black and Gold had gotten to 25 points since Darin Green Jr. tallied 27 on Dec. 30, 2021 vs. Michigan.
UCF is now through the first half of the season, playing 15 of its 30 games on the 2022-23 schedule. The Black and Gold have been impressive, posting an 11-4 record with a 2-1 mark in conference play thus far. To this point, UCF boasts a top-25 defense, holding opponents to 60.5 points per game, a mark that is 19th in the country. They've held their opposition to just 38.5% shooting from the field, a clip that ranks 21st nationally.
SMU comes to Orlando after suffering an 87-53 loss at No. 2 Houston on Thursday. Prior to that, the Mustangs began conference play with a win as they hosted Tulsa and cruised to a 92-67 win. Overall, SMU is 6-9 on the year.
Zhuric Phelps and Zach Nutall lead the Mustangs in scoring, recording 17.5 and 14.3 points per game respectively.
The Mustangs, along with Tulane, are the only two teams the Knights will play against just one contest against in conference play. Every other team in The American will face UCF twice over the course of the season.
SMU holds a 14-10 all-time series lead over the Knights, but its UCF who has won four of the last seven contests. The Mustangs have won back-to-back contests against the Black and Gold, scoring 12 and 13 point wins.
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