Men's Hoops Outlasts Kansas State 80-76

ORLANDO - With just 14 seconds left in regulation, a game the Knights led for over 35 minutes came down to just three points after Kansas State clawed its way back in the second half. Despite the foe’s late surge, the UCF men’s basketball team outlasted the Wildcats 80-76 in a total team effort, spearheaded by Moustapha Thiam’s first career double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds while adding eight blocks.

Despite losing the tip, Darius Johnson nabbed a steal on the opening possession, leading to Keyshawn Hall knocking down a three to kickstart the offense. Tyler Hendricks, making his first start of his collegiate career, continued the push for the Knights swooping through the lane for an offensive rebound and a tip-in layup putting UCF up 5-0 in the first minute of the game. 

Although the Black and Gold built as much as a nine-point cushion for themselves at one point, 21-12, Kansas State’s scrappy offense worked to chip away at the score, closing it back into four at the nine-minute mark, 23-19. As the teams swapped hoops in a tug-of-war to take the lead, the Wildcats put away five consecutive baskets to grab their first lead of the game at 29-28 with 5:51 left in the first. However, UCF stayed hungry only lending the Wildcats a three-point lead before a jumper from Thiam set the Knights back on track. Thiam kept momentum for the team defensively as well, stuffing a Wildcat for his third block of the evening. The Knights ended the half on a 10-0 run, built by a seven-point stretch from Hall to lead 41-34 at the half. 

At the start of the second, UCF struggled to get its footing offensively, not making a shot for the first two minutes. From there, Hall turned on the burners for the Black and Gold, banking in an and-one. A defensive stop and a quick three-point shot from Johnson put six points on the board for the Knights to take their largest lead of the game at 47-36 with 17:16 to play. 

Hall and Johnson combined to make up 49 of UCF’s total points on the night. The contest marked Hall's 14th game this season where he recorded 20-plus points and his 12th consecutive game scoring double-digits, tallying 26 tonight. As for Johnson, he knocked down four three-pointers to put up 23 points, his eighth 20-plus point game on the campaign and sixth time burying at least four triples.

Regardless of their double-digit advantage and holding a lead for the entirety of the final half, the Knights fought tooth and nail to fend off the Wildcats. Putting down a quick six points of its own at the 13:55 mark, Kansas State slashed the lead back to four, 49-45. The teams stayed neck and neck, trading hoops while remaining within six points of one another for an extended period of time. Hall tallied yet another three with nine left to play to snap the trend and go up by eight at 64-56. Benny Williams flipped a layup in to stretch the lead back to match the 11-point edge of earlier at 69-58 with 5:48 left. 

Following the pattern of the game, the Wildcats sprinted off on a minute-long 7-0 scoring spurt, to get back within striking range yet again with 4:31 to go at 69-65. A pair of Kansas State free throws put them within a possession of UCF at 73-71 with 1:18 left. However, the unwavering willpower of the home team gave them a six-point edge with just 18 seconds left on the clock.

Just as it looked like the Knights had taken the game with a 78-72 lead, Kansas State completed a four-point play, hitting a contested three-pointer while drawing a foul to make the contest within a possession again, 78-76, with 14 seconds left before the buzzer. As hope flourished for the Wildcat side, a pair of free throws from Hall shut it down, securing an 80-76 Knights win.

Rookie Thiam earned eight blocks in Wednesday’s game, tying the program record for most blocks in a single game, swatting aside as many as Tony Davis (Dec. 1, 2007 at South Florida), Keith Clanton (Dec. 4, 2010 vs. SE Louisiana) and Tom Herzong (Dec. 11, 2010 vs. Bethune-Cooman). Thiam passed Taylor Hendricks for the second most blocks as a UCF freshman in a single season, notching 67. Thiam was previously tied with Hendricks coming into the game at 59 rejections. Thiam’s aggressive paint defense puts him just four away from surpassing current rookie record holder Tacko Fall, who recorded 70 blocks in his freshman season in 2015-16. Fall holds a significant edge for single-season blocks in UCF history, boasting 94 in the 2016-17 season.

UP NEXT
The Knights will head to Fort Worth on March 1 to face TCU in Schollmaier Arena for a 3:00 p.m. tip-off. In the teams’ last face-off, UCF earned its biggest win of the campaign and its largest over a Big 12 opponent taking the game 85-58 in Orlando on Jan. 25.