ORLANDO – The UCF men’s basketball team on Opening Knight proved they can hang tough on the defensive end of the floor against one of the nation’s best in No. 13 Texas A&M.
The Knights on Tuesday showed they have the offensive potential to complement.
“We got those shots (that didn’t go in previous games), but they were knocking them down. They’re capable of having nights like this. A lot of guys stepped up and made those plays for us.”
Johnny DawkinsUCF Men's Basketball Head CoachLed by a trio of 20-point scorers in Keyshawn Hall, Darius Johnson and Jordan Ivy-Curry, the Black and Gold improved to 3-0 on the new season behind a prolific 100-94 victory over the visiting Florida Atlantic Owls at Addition Financial Arena.
The contest marked the first that has seen UCF eclipse the century mark since its 107-104 double overtime victory over the Memphis Tigers, and the first in regulation since the Knights’ 104-83 win over the Houston Cougars March 7, 2014.
Hall, Ivy-Curry and Johnson combined for 69 points in Tuesday’s display, scoring 26, 22 and 21, respectively, to become the first trio of Knights to each notch 20-point showings in the same game since Brandon Mahan (32), Isaiah Adams (22) and Darin Green Jr. (20) did so against the then-No. 15 Florida State Seminoles in Tallahassee Dec. 19, 2020, an 86-74 Knights win.
“It helps us because it gives us guys who have all been in those moments before,” Dawkins continued. “All three of those guys have a great deal of experience, and they’re all capable of doing what they did tonight. It’s really good to see them all do it on the same night, it makes us even more difficult to defend.”
For the third consecutive game to begin the campaign, UCF overcame a slow start and erased an early lead by its opposition. Trailing 21-11 just before the halfway point of the first 20 minutes, Benny Williams connected on the Knights’ second 3-pointer of the evening, a shot that sparked his squad’s offensive efforts for the remainder of the half.
Nils Machowski, JJ Taylor, Johnson and Ivy-Curry each drilled a triple of their own as the Black and Gold thundered their way back to a 28-28 tie with 8:16 left in the first half.
After Ivy-Curry and Williams accounted for 16 of the Knights’ final 18 points of the period, the Knights brought a 46-36 advantage into the halftime pause on the strength of a 35-15 UCF run to conclude the half, punctuated by back-to-back Ivy-Curry 3-point shots within the final minute.
“We’re all dynamic and we can all score the ball at a high rate,” Ivy-Curry said. “Our biggest thing is learning how to play with each other and starting off earlier.”
UCF let the Owls work their way back into the contest with a 12-2 FAU run to open the second half, tying the affairs at 48, and again found the offensive traction to maintain a narrow lead down the stretch.
Ivy-Curry and Hall combined for five points, featuring Hall’s second triple of the evening, to push the Knights back out to a 53-48 lead, and Hall and Johnson took over from there.
Of the Black and Gold’s 54 second-half points, Hall scored 20 and Johnson tallied 18 while combining for five 3-pointers on six tries from beyond the arc.
“Our players didn’t walk into that game blindfolded,” Dawkins added. “They knew that (the Owls) were going to come into that game and be very tough and competitive, and we were going to have to play a good game to win.”
Ivy-Curry’s dominance against the Owls continued a recent personal trend, as his single-game career high 38 points also came against FAU Jan. 21, 2024, with UTSA. After scoring 16, 18 and 22 points through his first three games in Orlando, the fifth year transfer is averaging a team-best 18.7 points per game.
Hall notched the 11th 20-plus-point game of his two-plus-year career, and his first since scoring 20 on Feb. 13, 2024, against George Washington with George Mason, and joins Ivy-Curry in averaging double figures thus far, with 16.7 through three games.
Johnson, meanwhile, enters UCF’s Tuesday tilt against Tennessee Tech Nov. 19 in need to six points to become the 21st player in program history to score 1,000 points in a Knights uniform. Through three games, the Knights veteran is averaging what would represent a season high 17.3 points per game as well.
“In three games we’ve played three different systems,” Dawkins said. “That’s how it’s going to be as we go through the season and in conference play. Everyone’s not going to play the same style, so you have to be able to make the adjustments, and I thought our guys in all three games were able to do that. They found a way to still win the game.”
With the win, the Knights now own a 27-11 record over in-state foes under Coach Dawkins. This was the first win over the Owls in his tenure with the Black and Gold as UCF improved to 23-10 in the all-time series over Florida Atlantic.
UP NEXT
The Knights conclude their season-opening four-game homestand against Tennessee Tech Tuesday, Nov. 19. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. from Addition Financial Arena and will be streamed on ESPN+.
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