ORLANDO - The Knights head to Manhattan, Kansas for the first time in program history to face No. 7 Kansas State on Saturday, Feb. 17. Tip-off is set for 5 p.m. inside Bramlage Coliseum.
The Rundown
• This contest will mark the second meeting between the teams, as the Wildcats traveled to Orlando on Jan. 6 for a Big 12 conference matchup and came away with a 72-56 win.
• The Wildcats lead the conference with 5.8 blocks per game, which ranks No. 8 in the NCAA compared to UCF ‘s 2.3.
• The Knights average 14.86 free throws per game while K-State has committed 15.4 fouls per game.
Scouting Kansas State
• Kansas State heads into the matchup with a 21-4 record and a 10-3 mark in the Big 12.
• The Wildcats are coming off a 96-93 double overtime heartbreaker loss at Iowa State on Valentine’s Day.
• Head coach Jeff Mittie is in his tenth season at K-State and holds a 185-131 record as head coach.
• Kansas State has a duo of players who average double digits in scoring with Ayoka Lee leading the pack with 19.8 and Serena Dundell adding 12.0 points per game.
• Lee also leads the team in blocks averaging 2.95 per game and ranked No. 18 in the NCAA.
• As a team, the Wildcats are first in the Big 12 and 23rd in the NCAA for scoring defense as they limit their opponents to 55.9 points.
A Win Would…
• Give the Knights their fourth win in Big 12 conference play
• Give the Knights their second consecutive road win
• Give UCF its first win over Kansas State in program history
• Be better than a loss
Rising to the Top
• Junior Kaitlin Peterson is having a stellar debut season for the Knights, as she is second in the Big 12 with 20.0 points per game.
• The Eufaula, Alabama, native tallied 32 points against Baylor on Jan. 20 to mark her fourth game this season with 30 or more points, which leads the Big 12.
• In UCF’s 13 conference games, Peterson is averaging 20.4 points per game to lead the league. She set a career high with 35 points at Cincinnati on Jan. 10.
• Peterson started her UCF career with 31 points in the Knights’ 101-63 victory against Bethune-Cookman, which was a career high at the time. She was 6-10 from beyond the arc and 12-19 from the field, adding in one free throw.
• She’s scored double digits in 22 of UCF’s 23 games this season and has reached 20 points on 11 occasions.
Double-Double Duo
• A pair of double-doubles from Khyala Ngodu and Morgan Robinson-Nwagwu lifted the Knights to a 92-87 win over Houston on Jan. 27.
• The frontcourt duo combined for 20 of UCF’s 44 first-half points.
• Ngodu recorded a career-high 25 points, grabbing 12 rebounds for her first double-double of the season and the first of her career. She also had three blocks and tallied one steal.
• Robinson-Nwagwu added 12 points, pulling down 10 rebounds for the first double-double of her career. She also had a game-high five assists for the Knights.
• The pair became the first UCF duo since Taylor Gibson and Destiny Thomas to record two double-doubles in one game. Gibson and Thomas achieved the accomplishment on Nov. 27, 2022, against SEMO.
50 = Magic Number
• The Black and Gold are 4-0 when limiting their opponent to 50 points or less.
• From Nov. 24 through Dec. 19, the Knights held five of their seven opponents to less than 50 points.
• UCF held Campbell (Dec. 3) and Morgan State (Dec. 19) to just 41 points marking the fewest points against an opponent this season.
Déjà Vu
• Kaitlin Peterson recorded back-to-back 20-plus point games on Jan. 3 and 6, tallying 22 points in both games against Oklahoma State and Kansas State.
• Peterson’s achievement marked the first time a UCF player has recorded consecutive 20-point games since the 2021-22 season when Diamond Battles scored 21 points in back-to-back games on Jan. 22 and 26.
Back in the Big 12
• Sytia Messer and Mike Carey have spent a significant portion of their coaching career in the Big 12.
• Coach Messer spent seven years in Waco as an assistant coach at Baylor and Carey is a veteran in the Big 12, where he was head coach at West Virginia for 21 years, spending 10 of those in the Big 12.
• The Knights are the only coaching staff in the Big 12 to have a previous head coach and assistant coach with Big 12 experience.
Spreading the Wealth
• UCF is 10-2 when it records more assists than its opponent.
• Nine Knights have led UCF in assists in at least one game this season.
• Laila Jewett has led the team in assists throughout 12 games this season and ranks 16th in the Big 12 with 3.3 assists per game.
• The Black and Gold average 11.6 assists per game.
Crashing the Boards
• Freshman Khyala Ngodu leads the team in conference play with 7.1 rebounds per game, which ranks eighth in the conference.
• Ngodu has tallied 13 games with five-plus rebounds.
• The Fort Lauderdale, Florida, native earned her first start with the Knights on Jan. 13 against West Virginia.
• She earned her first double-double with a career-high 25 points and 12 rebounds in the Black and Gold’s first Big 12 win against Houston (Jan. 27).