Men's Hoops Set for Greenbrier Tip-Off vs. No. 19 Wisconsin

ORLANDO – The UCF men’s basketball team is set for its first game away from Orlando this season, taking part in the Greenbrier Tip-Off in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va. The Knights will face their second ranked opponent of the young campaign, facing No. 19/25 Wisconsin on Friday before facing either Pitt or LSU on Sunday.

GAME INFORMATION
Date: Friday, Nov. 22, 2024
Time: 5 p.m. ET
Location: Addition Financial Arena; Orlando, Fla.
TV: CBS Sports Network
Talent: Jack Benjamin (PxP), Matt McCall (Analyst)
Radio: FM 96.9/AM 740 The Game
Talent: Marc Daniels (PxP)
Live Stats: Click Here

KNIGHT NOTES

• UCF earned a 4-0 start after beating Tennessee Tech last time out, which is tied for the best start during head coach Johnny Dawkins’ tenure. The Knights also started 4-0 in 2017-18 and 2021-22. The 4-0 starts all have something in common in the fact that the Knights beat at least one Power Four team in the first four games of those seasons, and each ended with at least 18 victories during the campaign. The 2024-25 start is the only one of the three 4-0 starts to include a ranked win thanks to the 64-61 win on opening night.
• The Knights will be going for their third straight in-season tournament victory when they visit The Greenbrier for the inaugural Greenbrier Tip-Off. UCF will face No. 19/25 Wisconsin in the opening game on Nov. 22, a team that made last season’s NCAA Tournament, before facing either Pitt or LSU on Nov. 24. UCF’s contest against Tennessee Tech was also a part of the scheduling for the Greenbrier Tip-Off as the Golden Eagles completed their bracket at The Greenbrier.
• A tournament victory at The Greenbrier would be the fourth under head coach Johnny Dawkins and the third straight. UCF won last season’s in-season tournament, the Jacksonville Classic, by topping South Dakota State and Charlotte. UCF won the Baha Mar Hoops Bahamas Championship during the 2022-23 campaign with a 60-56 overtime victory over Oklahoma State and a 57-50 win over Santa Clara. Coach Dawkins’ first tournament victory was during the 2018-19 campaign where the Knights beat Cal St. Fullerton, Saint Joseph’s and Western Kentucky at the Myrtle Beach Invitational.
•  Darius Johnson hit the 1,000 career point mark last time out against Tennessee Tech, becoming the 21st Knight to score all 1,000 points in a UCF uniform. The last Knight to accomplish the feat was Tacko Fall in 2018-19, finishing his career with 1,160. Darius’ dad Kelvin and brother Xavier both scored 1,000 points college. Xavier finished his five-year career with 1,452 points after three years with George Mason and two with Southern Ill. Kelvin finished with 1,400 in four years at Richmond. Johnson now gives UCF a trio of 1,000 point scorers, as he is joined by Jordan Ivy-Curry and Jaylin Sellers. With Johnson reaching the 1,000 career point mark, UCF is one of five Big 12 schools with a trio of 1,000+ point scorers. The four schools that meet the criteria are Arizona, Baylor, Kansas, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech.
• In each game as a Knight so far, Ivy-Curry has scored at least 15 points and recorded a trio of assists or better. His best game of the campaign came in the outing against Florida Atlantic on Nov. 12, where he scored 22 points, five assists and two steals. He hit four triples and sunk all six free throw opportunities. He tied a career high in steals with four against Tennessee Tech. Ivy-Curry has sunk 23 of 25 free throws to start the year, ranking second in the Big 12 in free throw percentage so far.
• Keyshawn Hall has shown he can do it all early in his UCF career. He’s tallied back-to-back 20+ point outings, scoring 26 against Florida Atlantic (Nov. 12) and 20 vs. Tennessee Tech (Nov. 19). He’s accomplished the feat before, most recently piecing together four straight 20+ point outings from Feb. 3-Feb. 13, 2024 while at George Mason. Hall earned a double-double in his second outing with UCF, scoring 14 points and pulling in 12 rebounds vs. Purdue Fort Wayne. His five assists against Tennessee Tech were a career-best.
  
  

THE MATCHUP

• The two sides have met just once before. Wisconsin beat UCF in just the Knights' third season of existence, a 90-58 Badger victory on Dec. 13, 1971.

SCOUTING WISCONSIN

• Wisconsin is one of three of the Big Ten’s 18 teams to have appeared in the AP Top 25 poll at some point during the past six seasons (joined by Michigan State and Purdue), and have done it again this year, jumping in at No. 19 this past week.
• Wisconsin came out on top in a tight 87-84 victory against UT Rio Grande Valley on Monday. The Badger’s trailed by four points at halftime, but John Blackwell’s 30-point performance powered the comeback and led UW to its fifth-straight win, starting the season 5-0 for the first time since 2018-19. The Badgers scored 79 or more points for the fifth time this season, the first time since 2005-06 that the team started its season with five consecutive 79-plus point games. The Badgers are averaging 88.2 points per game this season – third in the Big Ten and 34th in the Nation.
• Blackwell scored a career-high 30 points in Monday's victory, shooting 11-for-18 from the field and 6-for-8 from the free throw line. His previous career-high was 18, which he scored last season three times. The sophomore is now ranked second on the team in scoring, averaging 16.2 points per game. Blackwell is the first Badger guard to score 30-plus points and secure seven or more rebounds since Johnny Davis tallied 30 points and 12 rebounds against Indiana on 2/15/22. Additionally, Blackwell and Davis are the only Badger underclassmen since 2004-05 to record a game with 30+ points and seven or more rebounds.