Men's Basketball Outlasts Colorado, 75-74Men's Basketball Outlasts Colorado, 75-74

Men's Basketball Outlasts Colorado, 75-74

by Ryan Ladika
Box Score

ORLANDO – “Stay confident, stay aggressive.”

Amid a cold offensive start, Jordan Ivy-Curry and the UCF men’s basketball team clung to their mentality.

The Knights rode their confidence to a 15-5 run that followed an 0-for-10 start from the field. They utilized their aggressive gameplay in erasing a 10-point second-half deficit in the last 15 minutes of action.

They remained collected in the face of a final-possession five-second violation and turnover that gave Colorado the ball with six seconds to play, trailing by a single point.

It all factored into a gritty get-right victory over the visiting Buffaloes in front of a raucous Addition Financial Arena crowd Wednesday evening, 75-74, a showing that proved the squad’s previous contest against the seventh-ranked Kansas Jayhawks was an aberration, not the norm.

“We beat a good basketball team tonight. Our guys, especially in the second half, executed what we wanted to execute and gave us a chance to win. We were able to do that.”

Johnny DawkinsHead coach

The Black and Gold’s (11-3, 2-1 Big 12) latest win, one that saw three Knights eclipse double figures led by Ivy-Curry’s 22 points, was built upon a relentless defensive effort that forced the Buffaloes (9-5, 0-3 Big 12) into a season-high 22 turnovers, their highest single-game total since they committed 23 in a 68-54 loss at UCLA Jan. 14, 2023.

UCF’s defensive scheme shut Colorado out for the final 3:01 of gametime as well, an instrumental stretch as the Knights overcame their own offensive struggles with four converted free throw attempts to take their 75-74 lead with 33.5 seconds to play.

“It was huge for our guys. We talked about regrouping and responding. That’s what this league is about, you’re going to be in tough battles every single night. For us, we took the lessons we learned (against Kansas) and got better from it. We carried some of those things over into this next game.”

Johnny DawkinsHead coach

After being held off the scoreboard for the first 4:13 of Wednesday’s action, it was Ivy-Curry who ignited UCF’s offensive efforts, drilling three straight field goals, including the first of his four 3-pointers, to give the Knights their first lead of the game, 7-6.

With four triples Wednesday, Ivy-Curry recorded his sixth showing with at least four makes from beyond the arc en route to posting his third 20-plus-point game this season and his 12th of his first 14 in double digits.

“The team did a good job getting me involved to make plays because I’m more than just a shooter. I can make plays for my teammates. My mentality was just to be a playmaker.”

Jordan Ivy-CurryFifth year guard

He punctuated UCF’s early run with his second 3-point field goal, which was followed soon after by triples from Benny Williams and Keyshawn Hall, whose 18 points closely trailed Ivy-Curry’s 22 for second-most on the squad and clinched his 12th game of the year in double figures.

Ivy-Curry aided the Black and Gold in keeping pace with Colorado down the stretch of the first 20 minutes, scoring four more points before a Darius Johnson driving layup with three seconds left shaved the Buffaloes lead to 37-34 at halftime.

“We have to be a better defensive team, and we can be. Tonight was a good example of how well we can play when we need to, especially when we were down by 10. Our guys did a great job of turning up the heat and playing UCF basketball. We started turning up the heat and pressing guys. I thought that was the turning point.”

Indeed, Colorado built their lead to double digits for the first time in the contest in the moments following the halftime pause, outdueling 3-point field goals by Johnson and Ivy-Curry to balloon their advantage to 56-46 with 14:14 to play.

The Knights once again responded, halting the Buffaloes’ momentum with a 15-4 run that gave UCF a slim 61-60 lead with just under eight minutes to go, spearheaded by eight points by Hall.

The two squads continued to trade offensive blows until they combined for just one field goal in the final 4:32 of gametime, with UCF gaining the edge at the free throw line.

With 10 3-point field goals overall, six of which game in a second half that saw the Knights outscore Colorado 41-37, UCF notched double-digit triples for the sixth time this season, as well as the third time in its past four games.

“They opened the second half hot, and at the under-16 media timeout we had a heart-to-heart,” Dawkins recalled. “We had to turn the intensity up and stay locked into the gameplan. We got away from it during that span, and it helped us gain the momentum back.”

UP NEXT

Now 2-1 in Big 12 Conference play, UCF will try for its third and fourth league wins of the year during a two-game road swing through Arizona. The Knights will next square off against the Arizona Wildcats Saturday, Jan. 11 at 10 p.m. ET from the McKale Center in Tucson before making the trip north to Tempe’s Desert Financial Arena for a clash with Arizona State Jan. 14 at 11 p.m. ET.

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