Men's Hoops Heads West for Saturday Clash with Colorado

ORLANDO – The UCF men's basketball team looks to earn a season sweep of Colorado as the Knights head west to face Colorado.

GAME INFORMATION
Date: Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025
Time: 3 p.m. ET
Location: CU Events Center; Boulder, Colo.
TV: ESPN+
TV Talent: Lowell Galindo (PxP), Jess Settles (Analyst)
Radio: FM 96.9/AM 740 The Game
Radio Talent: Marc Daniels (PxP)

KNIGHT NOTES

• The Knights are looking to snap their five game losing streak and a stretch that saw them lose seven of their last eight. UCF has never lost more than five consecutive games under Dawkins, losing five in a row just twice during his tenure (2019-20; 2022-23). The last time UCF lost more than five games consecutively was the season before Dawkins’ arrival as the Knights lost seven straight as part of dropping eight of the final nine games of the 2015-16 regular season. Following the two previous five-game losing skids under Dawkins, UCF went on to win the next two games both times.
• UCF is set for its fourth contest against this season’s group of Big 12 newcomers, going 2-1 to this point. The Knights’ game at Colorado is the penultimate one against the newbies, with the finale coming against Utah Feb. 23 in Orlando.
• UCF finished its early season three-game stretch against three of the newest Big 12 additions, topping Colorado 75-74 and adding a road win at Arizona State 95-89. The lone loss was wedged between the two wins, falling to Arizona on the road 88-80. 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.
• In the first meeting between the two sides this season, the Buffaloes shot over 50% from the field throughout the game’s entirety and built a lead as big as 10 in the second half, but the Knights found a way to stop them when it mattered most. UCF held Colorado scoreless over the final 3:01 of the contest, including two scoring opportunities inside of five seconds to improve to 2-1 in league play with the 75-74 win. Jordan Ivy-Curry led the Knights in scoring with 22 points, sinking four three-pointers while Keyshawn Hall and Darius Johnson joined him in double-digit points, tallying 18 and 17, respectively.
• The Black and Gold forced the Buffaloes to commit 22 turnovers, which still stands as a season-high coughed up by Colorado and the second most the Knights have forced this season behind the 23 they forced against Tarleton State on Dec. 8. UCF’s Jan. 8 meeting with Colorado was the second win over the Buffaloes in program history and first since the 2017 meeting in the NIT between the two sides that saw the Knights earn a 79-74 win.
• Prior to this season, UCF hung its hat on winning games on the defensive side of the ball. This season, its been the offense. In Dawkins’ previous eight seasons at the helm of the Black and Gold, the Knights averaged 68.9 points per game with the best clip in points per game sitting at 72.3 back in 2018-19, the last time UCF made the NCAA Tournament. This season, the offense has errupted, averaging 79.0 points per contest with 13 games of 80 or more points this season (50 total in JD era). The Knights’ defense has allowed an average of 65.8 points per game over the previous eight seasons under Dawkins and has allowed 79.8 on the current campaign. The previous season-high never eclipsed 69.4 points per game (2020-21). UCF’s defense allowed 90 points five times across Dawkins’ first eight seasons and has allowed seven 90+ point games this season.
• UCF has made 10 or more three-pointers in nine games so far this season but have done so just once during the losing streak, the first of the skid at No. 11 Kansas. 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 Knights average 8.7 made three pointers per game, close to the highest number of made threes during Dawkins’ tenure with 8.8 during the 2021-22 campaign. The high clip has helped UCF to its highest scoring offense under Dawkins as well.

THE MATCHUP

• The Knights look for their second win over the Buffaloes this season after earning a 75-74 win earlier in the season. UCF owns a 2-1 all-time series lead over Colorado, with the other win coming in the 2017 NIT in Orlando, a 79-74 decision.

SCOUTING COLORADO

• Colorado is 9-15 overall and 0-13 in Big 12 Conference play after falling to No. 17/20 Kansas, 71-59, on Feb. 11. The Buffaloes have dropped their last 13, their longest losing streak since the 1985-86 season.
• Colorado is averaging 70.2 points per game, shooting 44.9 percent from the field, but those numbers have dipped to 64.7 points on 42.9 percent shooting during conference games. Defensively, Colorado is allowing 72.0 points per game overall while opponents are shooting 43.7 percent. During Big 12 games, Colorado is allowing 75.0 points while opponents shoot 46.0 percent.
• Colorado has scored exactly 59 points in each of its last three games and has failed to eclipse 60 in the last four. During that span the Buffaloes have faced the best scoring defense in the country in No. 6 Houston and two top 10 shooting defense teams in the Cougars (No. 6) and Kansas (No. 9). The last time Colorado went four games without reaching 60 points came in the final four contests of the 2013-14 season.
• The Buffaloes will be looking to end a rare six-game home skid, their most since the 1985-86 season. Prior to the beginning of this streak, Colorado had won 24 of 25 at the CU Events Center dating back to last season.