Men's Hoops Set for Launch in Space Game vs. No. 10/8 Houston

ORLANDO – The UCF men's basketball team will suit up as the Citronauts on Saturday afternoon for its third annual and fourth ever Space Game. UCF reunites with longtime foe No. 10/8 Houston for a matinee tip on national television.

GAME INFORMATION
Date: Saturday, Jan. 18, 2025
Time: Noon
Location: Orlando, Fla., Addition Financial Arena
TV: CBS Sports Network
Talent: Jordan Kent (PxP), Mike O'Donnell (Analyst), Brandon Baylor (Sideline)
Radio: FM 96.9/AM 740 The Game
Talent: Marc Daniels (PxP), Taylor Young (Analyst)

CITRONAUT NOTES

• The Black and Gold reunite with longtime foe Houston for the lone meeting of the season and 36th meeting all-time. The Knights and Cougars have been members of three different leagues together since 2005-06. Houston began in Conference USA in 1996-97; UCF didn’t join CUSA until the 2005-06 campaign where the two sides played for the first time. The two were in the American Athletic Conference from 2013-2023, and are now in their second seasons in the Big 12.
• UCF’s rich history of space exploration made its way to the hardwood during the 2019-20 season for the first “Space Game” in program history. The Citronauts, or ‘Nauts for short, topped Tulsa 83-75 on Feb. 9, 2020, behind Darin Green Jr.’s 26 points. The Space Game made its long-awaited return during the 2022-23 campaign with a fresh set of white uniforms with a new ‘Nauts script logo across the chest. The uniforms debuted on Feb. 11, 2023, as the ‘Nauts launched a barrage of threes, netting 17 and setting the single-game record for made three-pointers in school history while beating Tulsa 96-52. Ithiel Horton was the leading scorer on the evening, sinking 20 points while Darius Johnson recorded a 13-point, 10-assist double-double. UCF lost to No. 8/6 Iowa State 60-52 in the 2023-24 Space Game and have a fresh set of new uniforms for this year’s Space Game
• Space Facts: UCF was founded in 1963 with the mission of supporting the growing United States space program. In 1968, UCF established its motto: “Reach for the Stars” to represent the university’s promising aerospace education in engineering, electronics and other technological professions. UCF is #1 for placing graduates in aerospace industry jobs. 29% of Kennedy Space Center employees hold UCF degrees. In 2012 UCF had a planet named after it. UCF researchers discovered an exoplanet candidate they named UCF-1.01, which is only two-thirds the size of the Earth and 33 light-years away.
• What is a Citronaut?: The Citronaut mascot first appeared on the student handbook ahead of the 1968-69 school year. It was designed to combine the two major themes of Central Florida at the time: the space program and Florida citrus industry, one that prodcues roughly 100 million boxes of oranges annually. The original orange and green logo and mascot were set aside when Florida Technological University became UCF in 1978. In 2018, the old citronaut logo was rebranded and brought back to life to include a new “Canaveral Blue” color as well as a new wordmark.
• Keyshawn Hall made UCF history in the team’s 95-89 win at Arizona State on Jan. 14, scoring 40 points along with seven rebounds and six assists. He started the game six-for-six from the field, including four-for-four from long range and had 29 points at the end of the first half, surpassing his previous season high of 26 with about 16 minutes gone in the game. The 40 points were a career-best and his second 30+ point game of his career. Facts about Hall’s big night at time of accomplishment are below:
  • Became the third player in UCF’s Division-I history (this being the 41st season) to score 40 points or more
  • Highest amount of points scored in a Big 12 game this season 
  • First Big 12 player to score 40 in a conference game since Oklahoma State’s Cade Cunningham on Feb. 27, 2021
  • Became the second player this season to score 40+ points, 5+ rebounds and 5+ assists, joining Duke’s Cooper Flagg
  • Became the second player in Big 12 history with at least 40+ points, 5+ rebounds and 5+ assists in a regulation win, joining Oklahoma’s Austin Reaves; became the the sixth Big 12 player with at least 40-5-5 regardless of outcome
  • Was the 16th 40+ point performance at the NCAA D-I level this season
  • Became the 12th player to score 40 or more against Arizona State in its 113 seasons
• The Knights are one of seven teams in the Power 4 and Big East to have three 14.0+ points per game scorers this season; they’re joined by Creighton, Texas Tech, Stanford, Notre Dame, Purdue and Iowa. The trio of Keyshawn Hall (17.6), Darius Johnson (15.1) and Jordan Ivy-Curry (14.3) combine for 59% of UCF’s points, accounting for an average of 47.0 PPG of UCF’s average of 79.6. All three are in the top 15 of the Big 12 in scoring.
• The Knights split their road trip out west, falling to Arizona by eight but bouncing back to beat Arizona State on the road. It was UCF’s first meetings with Arizona and Arizona State. The win was UCF’s first in the state of Arizona after three empty results, two in Dec. 2005 at the Fiesta Bowl Classic at Arizona’s McKale Center and the other just recently to the Wildcats. Hall’s 40 points led the charge (see Hall makes history for more) while UCF also got double-digit point contributions from Darius Johnson with 17 points and seven assists as well as JJ Taylor who netted 14 points, a career-best. The Black and Gold shot 50.8% in the victory, the second time doing so in league play and fourth overall on the season. The Knights buried 12 triples against the Sun Devils, the seventh time hitting on 10+ three-pointers this season.
• UCF finished its three-game stretch against three of the newest Big 12 additions, going 2-1 in the process. The Knights topped Colorado 75-74 and added a road win at Arizona State 95-89. The lone loss was to Arizona on the road 88-80. The Knights still have two more games against the group of newcomers visiting Colorado Feb. 15 and hosting Utah Feb. 23. UCF went 0-6 against last season’s crop of newcomers and added a loss to BYU in the Big 12’s postseason tournament. All seven of UCF’s conference wins during the 2023-24 campaign came against legacy Big 12 schools.
• Six of UCF’s first seven games in Big 12 play are quad one contests acording to the NCAA NET rankings. UCF has picked up a pair of quad one wins through the first five games of league play, beating Texas Tech and Arizona State on the road. The Knights now sit at three quad one victories, beating No. 13/15 Texas A&M in Orlando on opening night. Following UCF’s 95-89 win over Arizona State, the Knights still have three quad one opportunities in their next four games. Out of UCF’s first 13 Big 12 contests, nine of them present quad one opportunities.
• Transfer guard/forward Keyshawn Hall has seven 20+ point games and scored double-digit points in all but two games this season. Hall has had some hot starts in conference play, starting six-for-six including four-for-four from deep on his way to 40 points against Arizona State; and started seven-for-seven including three-of-three from beyond against Texas Tech.
• Hall has been heating up as the season has gone on. After shooting 38.2% from the field and 25% from deep over UCF’s first nine games, he has averaged 49.5% from the field and 40% from deep over the last seven contests. The junior transfer shoots an impressive 48.6% from the field and 41.5% from three-point land in games that UCF wins while posting a 32.8% clip from the floor including an 18.2% mark from deep in UCF losses.
• Hall has tallied three back-to-back 20+ point outings this season, most recently scoring 40 points at Arizona State Jan. 14 after posting 22 at Arizona Jan. 11. He also scored 22 at Texas Tech Dec. 31 after dropping 21 vs. Jacksonville Dec. 21 after doing something similar earlier in the year against Florida Atlantic, scoring 26 Nov. 12 and 20 vs. Tennesse Tech Nov. 19.

THE MATCHUP

• UCF is looking to shake off a nine-game losing streak to Houston. The Knights were close to knocking off the Cougars in Orlando last season, never trailing during the first half and holding a 31-28 edge heading into halftime while shooting 50% through the first 20 minutes. Houston shot 50% in the second half and turned the ball over just four times in the final frame. The Knights are 10-9 against Houston when shooting a higher percentage, compared to 1-15 when shooting lower.
• The Cougars own a 24-11 all-time advantage over UCF.

SCOUTING HOUSTON

• The Cougars enter this weekend’s matchup following a 70-54 win over -/#25 West Virginia inside Fertitta Center in Houston on Wednesday. That victory extended the Cougars’ home winning streak to 32 consecutive games, the nation’s longest active streak. Wednesday’s win also marked the ninth straight game in which the Cougars held an opponent to 60 or fewer points. That total is one away from tying the Big 12 record of 10 consecutive games by Nebraska (Nov. 21, 2010 – Jan. 5, 2011) and is the nation’s longest streak since North Texas reeled off 12 straight games early during the 2022-23 season.
• Against -/#25 West Virginia, graduate forward J’Wan Roberts led Houston with a season-high 22 points, thanks to 10-of-13 shooting from the field. Graduate guard LJ Cryer poured in 18 points, thanks to 5-of-10 shooting from the arc, while junior guard
  Emanuel Sharp added 14 points with three treys.
• Houston enjoys one of the nation’s leading 3-point shooting backcourts. Graduate guard LJ Cryer (2.9, 41.8%) and junior guard Emanuel Sharp (2.8, 47.8%) rank among the Big 12’s Top-Five leaders in both 3-point field goals per game and 3-point field goal
  percentage with Sharp second in the nation with his 47.8 percentage. Houston is the only school in the Big 12 with multiple Top-Five leaders in both categories.
• Graduate forward J’Wan Roberts reached two career milestones in Houston’s Jan. 11 win at Kansas State. With his jumper in the lane midway through the second half, Roberts became the 52nd Cougar to score 1,000+ points during his career. He also set a school record against the Wildcats by competing in his 150th game as a Cougar.
• Graduate guard Mylik Wilson now needs only three points to reach quadruple digits during his complete collegiate career.
• With Houston’s Dec. 7 win over Butler, graduate forward J’Wan Roberts set a school record and became the winningest student-athlete in program history. Entering Saturday’s game at UCF, Roberts owns a 129-22 record during his Houston career.
• Junior point guard Milos Uzan continues to be an offensive leader in his first season with the Cougars in 2024-25. The Las Vegas native leads Houston and ranks seventh in the Big 12 with 4.8 assists per game. Uzan leads the league and ranks seventh nationally
  with a 3.85 assist-turnover ratio. He has recorded one or fewer turnovers in 10 games this season and has dished out 39 assists with only seven giveaways during Houston’s current nine-game winning streak.
• Since 2017-18, Houston ranks as the nation’s second-winningest team with a 221-42 record. Only Gonzaga with a 227-34 record stands higher. Houston is the nation’s winningest team over the four (110) and five years (138) and is the second-winningest team
  over the last six (161), seven (194) and eight (221) seasons.