ORLANDO – The UCF men’s basketball team has scheduled a home-and-home series with Texas A&M, starting with the Knights hosting the Aggies for opening night on Monday, Nov. 4 followed by a trip to College Station in 2025.
The home-and-home series will mark the first of two meetings between UCF and Texas A&M on the hardwood.
The Aggies are fresh off back-to-back NCAA Tournament berths under the direction of head coach Buzz Williams. Texas A&M was a No. 9 seed in the NCAA Championship this season and topped Nebraska 98-83 before taking top-seeded Houston to the wire in a 100-95 Cougars overtime victory. The Aggies finished the 2023-24 campaign going 21-15, including a 9-9 mark in Southeastern Conference (SEC) play.
The Black and Gold are poised for another exciting campaign after a thrilling first season in the Big 12 Conference that saw the Knights beat three ranked opponents for the first time in a single season. UCF opened its Big 12 home slate with a 65-60 victory over No. 3 Kansas, prompting a court storm in Orlando. The Knights later went on to beat No. 23 Oklahoma 74-63 for head coach Johnny Dawkins’ 300th career victory in early February, followed by a 75-61 win over No. 23 Texas Tech exactly three weeks later.
The Knights return several key members from last year’s squad for this season’s opening night tilt with the Aggies. Darius Johnson and Jaylin Sellers are set to return for their senior seasons after earning All-Big 12 Honorable Mention nods for last season’s efforts. The dynamic duo led UCF in scoring throughout the season. Nils Machowski and Tyler Hendricks also return after showing flashes of brilliance in their rookie campaigns.
UCF’s non-conference schedule for the 2024-25 season is beginning to come together, as the contest against Texas A&M is the third announced game. UCF will play a pair of games at the Greenbrier Tipoff on Nov. 22 and 24. Wisconsin, Pitt and LSU will participate in the tournament located at The Greenbrier in Sulpher Springs, W.Va. The bracket for the tournament has yet to be determined, but the Knights will play two of the three teams from the pool.
With the announcement of the home-and-home with Texas A&M, the 2024-25 season will mark the fifth straight campaign with an SEC opponent on the schedule. It will also be the eighth of nine seasons under Coach Dawkins that the Knights have played an SEC foe.