Men's Hoops Set for Sunshine State Showdown with Florida Atlantic

ORLANDO – The UCF men’s basketball team is set to host its first in-state foe of the campaign, welcoming Florida Atlantic to The City Beautiful. It's the first time the two sides have faced since 2018 and will be the 33rd all-time meeting.

GAME INFORMATION
Date: Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024
Time: 7 p.m. ET
Location: Addition Financial Arena; Orlando, Fla.
TV: ESPN+
Talent: Austin Lyon (PxP), Mike O'Donnell (Analyst)
Radio: FM 96.9/AM 740 The Game
Talent: Marc Daniels (PxP), Taylor Young (Analyst)
Live Stats: Click Here

KNIGHT NOTES

• The Knights received votes in both the AP and Coaches polls this week, tallying 20 and 17, respectively. UCF is receiving votes for the first time since Dec. 28, 2020. This is the 32nd week all time that the Knights have either been in the rankings or received votes. Their last ranking came at No. 25 on Mar. 4, 2019. The votes come off the heels of opening the season with a ranked win over No. 13/15 Texas A&M, followed up by Friday's win over Purdue Fort Wayne
• The Knights earned a 2-0 start to the year with a 75-68 victory over Purdue Fort Wayne. UCF started the contest by missing its first nine shots, including four from long range. However, the Knights’ defense was on lockdown, only surrendering three points over the first six minutes. That defense later showed up again, forcing Purdue Fort Wayne to miss nine of its last 10 shots to help secure the victory. Jordan Ivy-Curry led the Knights in scoring with 18 points and boasts a pair of 15+ point, three assist games to start ‘24-’25. Keyshawn Hall had the first UCF double-double of the season and 10th of his career, scoring 14 points with 12 rebounds. UCF head coach Johnny Dawkins earned his 150th victory at UCF with the win over Purdue Fort Wayne. The Black and Gold celebrated his 300th career victory on Feb. 3 last season as the Knights topped No. 23 Oklahoma 74-63.
• After scoring 24 points in the season opener and seven in the following game, Darius Johnson needs just 27 points to hit 1,000 in his career. All of his 973 points have been at UCF and is looking to become the 21st Knight to accomplish the feat. Tacko Fall and BJ Taylor were the last Knights to finish their careers with over 1,000 points, both graduating at the end of the 2018-19 season. Fall finished with 1,160 points, ranking him 18th in UCF history while Taylor had 1,618, ranking seventh. Darius’ dad Kelvin and brother Xavier both scored 1,000 points in their college careers. Xavier just finished up his five-year career with 1,452 points after three years with George Mason and two with Southern Illinois. Kelvin finished with 1,400, spending all four years at Richmond. Johnson got halfway to 1K just from last year’s scoring alone, posting an even 500 points, including 90 over the final four.
• Jordan Ivy-Curry (1,212) and Jaylin Sellers (1,151) are already 1,000 career point scorers on the Knights, meaning Johnson would give UCF a trio of 1,000-point scorers. UCF started the season as one of seven Big 12 teams with multiple 1,000 point scorers, joining Arizona, Baylor, BYU, Kansas, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech and West Virginia. UCF, Miami and Florida are the only in-state teams to have multiple.
• Johnson has picked up right where he left off last season. Including the last four games of the 2023-24 season, Johnson has been on a tear, averaging 20.2 points, 4.3 assists, and 2.0 steals per game. He set a career best with 33 points at TCU on March 9 before sinking 32 two games later against BYU at the Big 12 Championship, leading to an opening night peformance of 24 points in the 2024-25 calendar.
• He’s buried at least five triples in three of his last six games, shooting 52.5% (21-for-40) in those contests. Five of the last six contests have seen Johnson earn three or more assists, totaling 26 assists. His 12 assists to start the 2024-25 are the most in a pair of games to start the year since BJ Taylor did it in 2016-17.
• UCF has found success against in-state opponents under head coach Johnny Dawkins, going 26-11 against teams from Florida since his arrival. UCF has a pair of Florida foes on the schedule this season, hosting Florida Atlantic and Jacksonville. The Knights have topped Florida, Florida State, Miami, South Florida, Stetson, FIU, Jacksonville, Bethune-Cookman and Florida A&M during Johnny Dawkins’ tenure as UCF’s head coach.

THE MATCHUP

• UCF owns a 22-10 all-time lead over Florida Atlantic, although it was the Owls who won the last meeting, beating the Knights 80-79 back on Nov. 11, 2018.

SCOUTING FLORIDA ATLANTIC

• Florida Atlantic is under the direction of head coach John Jakus, who is in his first year at the helm in Boca Raton after Dusty May departed for Michigan.
• New Florida Atlantic Head Coach John Jakus brings a championship pedigree, built from his time at two premier programs as an assistant and director of operations with Baylor and Gonzaga where he was led by two of the nation’s best head coaches in Scott Drew and Mark Few. Jakus’ 12 seasons at the DI level has resulted in nine NCAA Tournament appearances, a 2019-2020 campaign in which they were ranked No. 5 in the nation before the season’s cancellation, an NIT championship in 2013, and a national title in 2021. Jakus now arrives in Boca Raton with the expectation to continue the program’s winning ways.
• Florida Atlantic is fresh off back-to-back NCAA Tournament Appearances, including their march to the the 2023 Final Four.
• The Owls finished last season with a 25-9 record and a first round exit from the NCAA Tournament. They are one of 12 teams on UCF’s schedule that made March Madness in 2023-24.
• Early in the season, Florida Atlantic has seven players that average doule-digt scoring, led by Ken Evans Jr. at 14 points per contest.
• The Owls currently average 16 steals and 22.5 turnovers forced per game, ranking fourth and fifth in the nation, respectively.