Men's Hoops Returns Home for Meeting with Milwaukee

ORLANDO – The UCF men’s basketball team returns home to host Milwaukee for a 7 p.m. tip on Wednesday on ESPN+. The contest is the first of a three-game home swing for the Knights.

GAME INFORMATION
Date: Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024
Time: 7 p.m. ET
Location: Addition Financial Arena; Orlando, Fla.
TV: ESPN+
Talent: Drew Fellios (PxP), BJ Taylor (Analyst)
Radio: FM 96.9/AM 740 The Game
Talent: Marc Daniels (PxP), Taylor Young (Analyst)
Live Stats: Click Here

KNIGHT NOTES

• UCF left the Greenbrier Tipoff without a victory, falling to No. 19 Wisconsin 86-70 before dropping a triple-overtime heartbreaker to LSU 109-102. The Knights were seeking their third straight in-season tournament victory. A trio of Knights scored 20 or more points in the loss to LSU, the second time this season UCF has accomplished the feat. Darius Johnson led the way with 25 points and was joined by Keyshawn Hall (21) and Jordan Ivy-Curry (20). Seventeen of Ivy-Curry’s points came across all three overtime segments while Hall grabbed a dozen of his points in overtime. Johnson compiled eight assists and five steals in the loss; Deebo Coleman also snatched five steals, a career-high.
• Darius Johnson has picked up right where he left off last season. Looking at the last four games of 2023-24 and the first six of the current campaign, he is averaging 18.0 points, 4.4 assists and 2.1 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. He has a trio of 20+ point games so far this season, including 24 on opening night against No. 13 Texas A&M and 25 vs. LSU at The Greenbrier. He’s buried at least four triples in five of his last 10 games, shooting 50% (31-for-62) from beyond in those contests. He’s had at least four assists in all but one game during the 2024-25 campaign, including a season-high eight vs. LSU. Johnson is off to one of the best starts assist-wise in the Dawkins era. Through the first six games, his 30 is behind only BJ Taylor who had 32 assists to start the 2016-17 campaign. They were even through four contests at 21 apiece.
• Jordan Ivy-Curry scored at least 15 points and recorded a trio of assists or better in the first four games of the season. His best game of the campaign thus far came 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. Ivy-Curry sunk 23 of 25 free throws to start the year and currently ranks fourth in the Big 12 in free throw percentage.
• Keyshawn Hall tallied back-to-back 20+ point outings prior to going to the Greenbreir Tip-Off, scoring 26 against Florida Atlantic (Nov. 12) and 20 vs. Tennessee Tech (Nov. 19). He’s accomplished the feat before, piecing together four straight 20+ point outings from Feb. 3-Feb. 13, 2024 while at George Mason. He tallied 25 at UMass, 20 vs. Loyola Chicago, 25 at Davidson, and 20 vs. George Washington on that run. Hall has a pair of double-doubles so far this season. The first was his second outing with UCF, scoring 14 points with 12 rebounds against Purdue Fort Wayne while his second saw him drain 21 points and haul in 10 rebounds against LSU at The Greenbrier.
  
  THE MATCHUP

• The two programs have faced off just twice, both during the 1990-91 season, with both decisions going to Milwaukee by a single possession.
• Both teams rank in the top 30 in rebounding this season, as UCF collects 43.33 rebounds per contest, sitting 21st in the nation. Meanwhile, Milwaukee is just a small clip behind the Knights, pulling in 42.43 boards per game, ranking 30th in the country.

SCOUTING MILWAUKEE

• Milwaukee is 5-2 so far this season and has won its last four straight contest. 
• AJ McKee leads the team in scoring with 16.0 points per game. He is one of four Panthers to average double-digit points, along with Themus Fulks (14.7), Jamichael Stillwell (12.7) and Kentrell Pullian (11.6).
• Stillwell ranks fourth in the nation in rebounding, averaging 10.4 rebounds per contest, meaning he averages a double-double early on in the campaign.