ORLANDO – The UCF men’s basketball team is set to clash with Purdue Fort Wayne on Friday night looking to build upon an exciting opening night victory, one that saw the Knights topple No. 13 Texas A&M 64-61.
GAME INFORMATION
Date: Friday, Nov. 8, 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: Eric Lopez (PxP)
Live Stats: Click Here
KNIGHT NOTES
- UCF erased an 11-point deficit with seven minutes to go to come from behind to beat No. 13/15 Texas A&M 64-61. The ranked victory was the 11th in program history and the ninth under head coach Johnny Dawkins’ tenure. Texas A&M was the third ranked opponent UCF has played on opening night in the program’s D-I history, joining tilts against No. 16 Florida State (11/25/88) and No. 25 Miami (11/19/99). Neither of those resulted in a win. The matchup against the Aggies was the eighth time in head coach Johnny Dawkins’ nine seasons that UCF had scheduled at least one SEC foe, with the potential to play another (LSU) at the Greenbrier Tip-Off. If the Knights do meet the Tigers, it would be the fourth time under Dawkins playing two SEC opponents. With the win against the Aggies, he has now compiled six wins against SEC teams during his UCF tenure.
- Moustapha Thiam made a big impression in game one of his collegiate career, swatting aside six shots in 22 minutes. His six blocks were the most by a UCF freshman since Tacko Fall had half a dozen back on Dec. 12, 2015 against Florida Atlantic and the most by a Knight since Omar Payne had six at West Virginia on Feb. 20, 2024. Thiam’s six blocks contributed to a total of 10 for the Knights in the defeat of No. 13 Texas A&M. In all of last season, UCF only tallied 10 blocks twice.
- Darius Johnson has picked up right where he left off last season. Going back to the last five games of the 2023-24 campaign, Johnson has had a remarkable six game stretch. He is averaging 21.3 points per game including a trio of games with 20 or more points over the last five. 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 56.1% (23-for-41) in those contests. Five of the last six contests have seen Johnson earn three or more assists, totalling 22 assists.
- After scoring 24 points in the season opener, Darius Johnson needs just 34 points to hit 1,000 in his career. All of his 966 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 last season, including 90 over the final four contests. Jordan Ivy-Curry (1,194) 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.
SCOUTING PURDUE FORT WAYNE
- The Mastodons finished last year with an impressive 23-13 overall record, reaching the CIT final. They went 11-9 in Horizon league play before winning their Horizon League Championship opener against Robert Morris. They later fell to top-seeded Oakland, a team that went on to make some noise in March Madness.
- Purdue Fort Wayne's resume got them a bid to the CollegeInsider.com postseason touranment where they beat Bowling Green 77-75 and Tarleton 73-72 before losing to Norfolk State in the championship game 75-67.
- The Mastodons got their season started on the right foot, beating Bluffton 99-47 on Monday. Six members of the team scored double-digit points, including Rasheed Bello who led the team with 16 points and five assists.
- Purdue Fort Wayne has seven players returning from last year’s squad, but also added 10 newcomers to the roster.