ORLANDO - Fans in Addition Financial Arena held their breath Sunday night as the game came down to the wire, tied at 72. As the clock drained under 10 seconds, Darius Johnson drove the paint and kissed a layup off the glass to lift the Black and Gold over Utah 76-72, snapping the Knights’ seven-game losing streak.
“It’s been a tough stretch for us and I thought our guys came out with a winning effort…today we got rewarded, we won the game against a good Utah team.”
Johnny DawkinsUCF Men's Basketball Head CoachThe Knights started the game slow, starting in an 11-point hole at 15-4 just under six and a half minutes in. UCF finally turned on the offense with a bucket from Jordan Ivy-Curry in the paint, ending the team’s dry spell with 12:12 to play in the half. Johnson kept the energy moving, immediately following with a steal that translated into a three knocked down by Moustapha Thiam.
Coming out of the second media timeout, the Black and Gold forced a turnover on four consecutive plays. That, coupled with a four-minute-long Utah scoring drought, closed the gap to four at 17-13. A jumper from Thiam tied the game and kept the momentum going before Tyler Hendricks, assisted by Johnson sank a three to secure the Knights’ first lead of the game 20-17. Hendricks provided a spark off the bench in the first half, knocking down a pair of threes and chasing down a block to keep the Black and Gold in the game.
The Knights’ bench made an impact Sunday evening, recording a season-high 33 points. Ivy-Curry led the group with 12 points, four assists, and four steals.
“We’re a team that plays with our depth so having those guys contribute the way they did I think was very impactful for our team.”
Once UCF pulled ahead, the game stayed close the remainder of the half, with neither team holding a lead of more than four. By the end of the half, UCF’s defensive performance lent them a single-point lead, 30-29. Despite opening the game dominantly on the offensive side of the ball, Utah began to crumble under the Knights' heavy defensive pressure, giving up 12 turnovers in the first half, while UCF only coughed up three and snagged eight steals.
“Our defense is active, we want to pressure, we want to try and turn you over, we want to play up-tempo. I thought we were able to do that through stretches of the game tonight. We were able to get the game played the way we wanted to play it.”
Johnny DawkinsUCF Men's Basketball Head CoachThe second half continued to see more of the same as the end of the first with back-and-forth buckets as both teams grappled for the lead. UCF flipped the switch and bolted out on a 12-0 run, started by a pair of free throws from Dallan ‘Deebo’ Coleman. From there, a pair of threes from Johnson and Coleman extended the lead to eight and a layup from Keyshawn Hall solidified the Knights’ double-digit lead, 59-49 with 7:58 to play.
UCF continued to apply pressure with a steal from Hall and a second-chance layup from Johnson building the lead to a game-high 11 points at 63-52 with just under six minutes left. Unwilling to lay down, the Utes turned things around, slashing their deficit to just one point, 68-67, with 1:39 left in the game. A layup from Hall put the Knights up by three, 72-69, with 36 seconds left on the clock. But Utah brought the fate of the game down to the wire, sinking a three at the 11-second mark to tie at 72-72. Senior guard Johnson came in clutch for the home team driving to the rim from the top of the arc, laying in a reverse layup to seal the game and ultimately put an end to the Knights seven game slide. Utah turned around by mishandling the ball on a quick inbound, giving possession back to UCF. Hall was fouled with just moments left in the game, knocking down both his free throws finalizing the score at 76-72.
Big time players make big time plays ‼️ pic.twitter.com/rFHV3Tu99t
— UCF Men’s Hoops 🌴 (@UCF_MBB) February 24, 2025
Tonight's contest marked the first time five players scored 10 points since UCF beat Texas 77-71 on Jan. 17, 2024; Thiam (18), Johnson (12), Ivy-Curry (12), Hall (11), Coleman (10).
Johnson’s game winning layup with 2.8 seconds left was the fourth time in the Dawkins era that UCF has made a game-winning shot with under three seconds left. The last time it happened was on Feb. 20, 2022 where Darin Green Jr. made a buzzer beater to beat ECU 69-66.
UP NEXT
The Knights will be back in action at home Wednesday, Feb. 26 against Kansas State for a 7:00 p.m. tip-off.
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