Men's Hoops Set for Sunday Tilt with California Baptist

ORLANDO – The UCF men’s basketball team is set for the second game of its three-game homestand, hosting California Baptist for a 4 p.m. tipoff on Sunday.

GAME INFORMATION
Date: Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024
Time: 4 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

• UCF is 38-12 in the month of December under Johnny Dawkins, never losing more than two games in any December while he has been at the helm. Two of Dawkins’ five victories over top-25 teams at UCF have come in December. The Black and Gold are 29-4 at home in December during Dawkins’ tenure. The Knights have averaged 72.2 points per game in December under Dawkins while holding foes to just 61.3 points per game, a double-digit margin of 10.9 points per contest.
• Darius Johnson could not be stopped from long range against Milwaukee, sinking a career-best eight triples on 10 attempts. He accounted for eight of UCF’s 11 made triples on the day, helping the team to a 45.8% clip from long-range. His 28 points was the fourth-highest in a game in his career and the most he has scored at home. A player has made eight or more three-pointers just one other time Dawkins’ UCF career when Matt Williams had 11 triples against South Florida on Jan. 17, 2017. Eight made threes tied the second most in a single game in program history, joining Jason Thorton (Jan. 10, 2000), Brad Traina (Jan. 4, 1999) and Harry Kennedy (Jan. 6, 1996). At the time of achieving the feat, Johnson was tied for the most made threes in game for a Power 4 team this season.
• Johnson has continued to carry his momentum from the end of last season into the start of 2024-25. Looking at the last four games of 2023-24 and the first seven of the current campaign, he is averaging 18.9 points, 4.2 assists and 2.2 steals per game. He’s buried at least four triples in six of his last 11 games, shooting 54.2% (39-for-72) from beyond in those contests. He has four 20+ point games so far this season, including the 28 points vs. Milwaukee which was his best home performance of his career.
• UCF has made a habit of protecting Addition Financial Arena under head coach Johnny Dawkins, going 98-35 at home. The Knights are currently on an eight-game winning streak at home against non-conference foes in the regular season dating back to last season where UCF beat Maine, Florida A&M and Bethune-Cookman to wrap up the out-of-league slate.
  
  THE MATCHUP
• The two programs have never met on the hardwood for a men's basketball contest.

SCOUTING CALIFORNIA BAPTIST

• The Lancers enter the contest 5-3 on the season with wins over Incarnate Word, Kennesaw State, LIU, Eastern Washington and Fresno State. They fell in a heartbreaker to SMU 79-77 in the opener of the Acrisure Holiday Invitational before beating Fresno State in double overtime in the third-place game which was the team's last outing.
• California Baptist was picked to finish fourth in the WAC preseason poll after finishing eighth last season with a 16-17 record, including a 8-12 mark in conference play.
• Dominique Daniels Jr. leads the Lancers in scoring, averaging 20.3 points per game. Joining him in double-digit scoring is Kendal Coleman who comes in scoring 15.1 points per game.
• California Baptist has taken care of the basketball so far this season, commiting 8.8 turnovers a game, the fifth-best mark in the country.
• The Lancers are one of two teams from the WAC on UCF’s schedule this season, the other being Tarleton State, who visit the Knights in Orlando on Dec. 8. The Texans were picked to finish sixth in the league.