Men's Hoops Set for First Visit to Allen Fieldhouse Against No. 11 Kansas

ORLANDO – The UCF men's basketball team is set to make its debut in one of the nation's most historic arenas, hitting the road to take on No. 11 Kansas Tuesday night. The Knights are riding the momentum of their largest margin of victory on the season, topping TCU 85-58 Saturday.

GAME INFORMATION
Date: Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025
Time: 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m CT
Location: Lawrence, Kan.; Allen Fieldhouse
TV: ESPN+
TV Talent: Mark Neely (PxP), Jerod Haase (Analyst)
Radio: FM 96.9/AM 740 The Game
Tadio Talent: Marc Daniels (PxP)

KNIGHT NOTES

• The Knights earned their biggest victory of the season, beating TCU 85-58 while leading wire-to-wire. The win is the largest by UCF over a Big 12 opponent since being members of the leauge, topping a 14-point win over Texas Tech at home last season. TCU’s 23 points was the lowest allowed by UCF against a Big 12 foe while being members. The Horned Frogs’ 58 points were just one more than the fewest that UCF has allowed to a Big 12 foe after allowing 57 at Houston last season. TCU became the third victim to score less than 60 points against UCF this season. Keyshawn Hall energized the Knights from the jump, sinking three straight threes on UCF’s first three possessions. He hit the first of two free throws on the next trip down the floor, giving UCF a 10-0 lead after four possessions 2:22 into the game. TCU on the other hand struggled from distance as UCF held them to 0-12 in the first half and 1-20 on the evening. Its the second time this season UCF has held an opponent without a three in the first, the other time coming against Tarleton St. UCF’s three highest scorers consisting of Hall, Jordan Ivy-Curry and Darius Johnson all hit three triples in the contest while Moustapha Thiam joined them as the fourth to score double-digit points on the night while adding five blocks.
• Kansas’ Jan. 5, 2025 defeat of UCF snapped what was an unblemished 39-year run for Knights’ head coach Johnny Dawkins against either Kansas or Bill Self as a coach or a player. The two sides are set for their second meeting of the season, UCF’s first trip to Lawrence in program history. Prior to the meeting this year, Coach Dawkins was a combined 6-0 in meetings against either Kansas or Bill Self, or a combination of both. Separately, he started 4-0 against Kansas in his career, with two wins as a player and two as a coach while also going 4-0 against Bill Self, with two wins as a head coach and two as an assistant. Dawkins is now 2-1 as a head coach against Self at KU. A full record is below:
  • Dec. 1, 1985: Duke 92, Kansas 86 - While playing for Duke and Mike Krzyzewski (Coach K), Dawkins, in his senior year, helped lift the Blue Devils over the Jayhawks in the fifth game of the 1985-86 season, played in Madison Square Garden.
  • March 29, 1986: Duke 71, Kansas 67 - Dawkins leads all scorers with 24 points, shooting 11-for-17, in the NCAA Tournament National Semifinal played in Reunion Arena in Dallas, Texas, to send Duke to the championship game.
  • March 14, 1999: Duke 97, Tulsa 56 - As an assistant coach at his alma mater and under Coach K, Dawkins is on staff to beat a Tulsa team with Bill Self at the helm in the second round of the 1999 NCAA Tournament.
  • Nov. 28, 2000: Duke 78, Illinois 77 - At a Greensboro Coliseum neutral site contest, Dawkins again as an assistant helps in lifting his team to a win over a Bill Self led squad, this time as he’s piloting a No. 9 Illini squad in a top-10 showdown.
  • March 23, 2014: Stanford 60, Kansas 57 - At the helm of Stanford, Dawkins leads the Cardinal to the Sweet 16 of the 2014 NCAA Tournament as a No. 10 seed after beating New Mexico and a Bill Self-led Kansas squad to advance. The appearance remains Stanford’s most recent run to March Madness.
  • Jan. 10, 2024: UCF 65, Kansas 60 - Dawkins guides UCF to win over Bill Self-led No. 3 Jayhawks in Big 12 home debut.
  • Jan. 5, 2025: Kansas 99, UCF 48 - The No. 7 Jayhawks spoil Dawkins’ flawless against Kansas and/or Self, ending the streak at 14,280 days.
• The Knights are one of six 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, Purdue, Stanford, and Notre Dame. The trio of Keyshawn Hall (17.2), Jordan Ivy-Curry (14.7) and Darius Johnson (14.5) combine for 58.4% of UCF’s points, accounting for an average of 46.4 PPG of UCF’s average of 79.5. All three are in the top 15 of the Big 12 in scoring. The Knights go as their trio goes, with big differences in shooting percentages in wins vs. losses. Combined, the trio makes 11.6% more of their field goals and 9.5% more of their three-point attempts in games UCF wins.
  • In UCF Wins: Johnson: 44.8 FG%, 46.1 3PT%; Hall: 48.4 FG%, 43.5 3PT%; Ivy-Curry: 44.0 FG%, 34.9 3PT%
  • In UCF Losses: Johnson: 34.2 FG%, 32.4 3PT%; Hall: 33.7 FG%, 19.2 3PT%; Ivy-Curry: 34.7 FG%, 38.1 3PT%
• UCF has made 10 or more three-pointers in nine games so far this season, including six times in the last nine contests. The Knights hit 10 or more three pointers just twice last season. Additionally, UCF already has four games where they’ve shot 50% or better from the floor after doing that just four times in the previous campaign. The Black and Gold tied a season-high with 13 made three-pointers against TCU.
• Of UCF’s first 13 Big 12 contests, nine of them present or have presented NCAA NET quad one opportunities. The Knights’ game at Iowa State capped UCF’s conference-opening stretch of seven games, six of which presented quad one opportunities.
• The Black and Gold’s gauntlent of a January ends with a tough stretch, as the game against No. 10/8 Houston was the first of back-to-back games against a top 10 opponent. It’s the first time since late last season that the Knights have faced two straight top 10 teams, as UCF lost by a combined 16 points to No. 8 Iowa State (60-52) and No. 1 Houston (67-59) on March 2 and March 6. This season’s lone contest against Houston started a four-game stretch in which UCF is scheduled to play three top 11 teams (No. 10/8 Houston, No. 3/4 Iowa State, No. 11/11 Kansas). It will be the first time in program history that the Knights have played three top 11 foes in a four-game run.

THE MATCHUP

• After winning the inaugural meeting in court-storming fashion last season, Kansas earned its first win in progarm history of the Knights in the second game of the current conference slate. UCF won 65-60 after erasing a 16-point deficit back on Jan. 10, 2024 before seeing the Jayhawks leave Orlando with a 99-48 win on Jan. 5, 2025.

SCOUTING KANSAS

• The contest from Allen Fieldhouse will start at 7 p.m. CT and be televised on ESPN+ with Mark Neely and former KU guard Jerod Haase calling the action. Haase played at Kansas for three seasons, from 1995-97, and scored 1,264 career points. He ranks 10th on the KU career three-point field goals made list at 461, 14th in steals (174) and 21st in assists (343).
• Kansas is coming off a 92-86 double overtime loss to No. 7 Houston on Jan. 25.
• Kansas is 126-21 (85.7%) following a loss in the Bill Self era, including 3-1 this season.
• Kansas is No. 8 in the NET report by the NCAA through games of Jan. 26. The No. 8 rank is third in the Big 12 behind No. 3 Houston and No. 6 Iowa State. Kansas’ strength of schedule is No. 8 nationally, which is second in the league (Arizona State at No. 6).
• Kansas leads the Big 12, and is ninth nationally, in assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.67. KU is second in the league, and ninth nationally, in assists per game at 18.3.
• Graduate C Hunter Dickinson is first in the Big 12 in double-doubles with nine, which is 11th nationally. He is second in the Big 12 and 12th nationally in rebounds per game at 10.1 rpg.
• Graduate G Dajuan Harris Jr. is second in the Big 12 and ninth nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio at 3.44. Harris is third in the conference, 27th nationally, with 5.8 assists per game. Harris had a career-high 12 assists with one turnover against Houston (1/25)