Johnson Leads Charge in Senior Night Victory Over Oklahoma State 83-70Johnson Leads Charge in Senior Night Victory Over Oklahoma State 83-70

Johnson Leads Charge in Senior Night Victory Over Oklahoma State 83-70

by Aiden Kocol

ORLANDO- Few Knights have spent more hours inside Addition Financial Arena than Darius Johnson, and Wednesday night, the senior was right at home as the UCF men’s basketball team toppled Oklahoma State 83-70 thanks to a marvelous performance.

One of seven Big 12 players to suit up in the same uniform for all four years, Johnson's senior send-off was a spectacle to behold. A historic night for the senior, Johnson broke his career high in points with 36, built by seven threes and a perfect game from the charity stripe. When breaching his high at 34 points, the DMV native also made his 200th career threes, something that’s only been done by four other players in UCF history. Leaving his mark in one more place on UCF record books, Johnson’s 36-point performance ties the most points recorded by a senior on their senior night with Jermaine Taylor who did so in 2009.

“I thought it was a great team effort. I thought our guys did a really good job… DJ scored 36 on senior night, a special night, a night that we will never forget”

Johnny DawkinsUCF Men's Basketball Head Coach

Play started slowly Wednesday night, as neither team was able to find their offensive rhythm. The teams traded points, with Oklahoma State holding a two-point edge at 9-7 with just under six minutes run off the clock. Despite that, the Cowboys got their footing first, knocking down a pair of layups and forcing five UCF turnovers in a three-minute stretch to take their largest lead of the half 16-9 with 12:53 left to play in the first.

A pair of triples from Nils Machowski and Johson found the offensive spark for the Knights and tied the game up at 16-16 with 10:16 left on the clock. Back-to-back buckets from Moustapha Thiam solidified a 9-0 run and marked five consecutive field goals for the Knights to lend them the upper hand with just over eight to play at 22-18.

The Cowboys kept on the Knights' heels, taking the lead back from the free throw line 23-22 at the seven-minute mark. From there, the teams traded buckets keeping a three-point pace from one another until an Oklahoma State jumper pushed them up by four at 31-27 with 3:21 left in the half. Although the Black and Gold snuck in a few buckets by the half-time buzzer, the Cowboys had extended their lead to seven with 31 seconds left at 40-33. A tip-in dunk stuffed in by JJ Taylor ended the half, sending the Knights into the locker room trailing 40-35. 

A sluggish start to the second half plagued the Knights. Only able to knock down two points in the first four minutes coupled with a Cowboy 7-0 to start the half put UCF in its largest hole of the night at 47-37 with 17:56 left to go. A six-point tear from Keyshawn Hall set the Knights back on track with just over 16 minutes left to play at 47-43. Continuing the push, Johnson knocked down seven points in a two-minute stretch knotting the game at 52-52 at 12:20. The effort proved fruitful as an and-one from Dallan ‘Deebo’ Coleman secured the Knight’s first lead since the four-minute mark in the first half at 56-54 with 10:56 left on the board.

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Sinking six of seven consecutive field goals, to put together a 14-2 scoring spree, the Cowboys had no choice but to call a timeout at the 9:26 mark in hopes of cracking the two-and-a-half minute-long scoring drought that left them at a six-point disadvantage, 60-54. Coming out of the 30-second break, Johnson drained back-to-back shots from behind the arc, putting away his fourth and fifth triples of the contest and extending the Knights lead into double digits at 66-56 with 7:24 left on the game clock. Following that, UCF had put the game out of reach, never losing their double-digit lead again. As the clock wound down, a crowd adorned with black and gold celebrated Johson, who delivered 10 of the final 17 points of the game, putting on a show for Knight Nation in his home finale.

With 25 seconds left, Johnson subbed out for the final time on his floor to a standing ovation as the Knights sealed the final score 83-70.

“I have to say top two, and it’s not number two.”

Darius Johnsonon where this game ranks in his career

Moustapha Thiam tallied three blocks on Wednesday evening, breaking the career freshman block record with 73. Thiam surpassed the previous record held by Tacko Fall with 70 and is now only one away from tying John Friday’s 1986-87 season single block record of 74.

Hall snagged nine rebounds and knocked down 18 points in the contest, marking his 13th straight double-digit game.

UP NEXT

The Knights wrap up their regular season on the road, in Morgantown W. Va. on March 8 where they will face the Mountaineers for a 5 p.m. tip-off.

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