LAS VEGAS – The UCF men’s basketball team saw its quest for the College Basketball Crown title come up just short, falling to Nebraska 77-66 in the championship game.
“Tough game, I thought our guys fought. I thought we had some opportunities to make some runs. We didn’t make the shots that we had been making throughout the tournament, some timely shots that would’ve helped us. I’m very proud of our team for the effort they’ve given us throughout this entire postseason tournament.”
Johnny DawkinsUCF Men's Basketball Head CoachMoustapha Thiam got the Knights going with a rejection on the defensive end and turned it into a triple on the offensive side, giving UCF the first points of the game. Nebraska scored 10 of the game’s next 12 points, giving the Cornhuskers a five-point lead. They later pulled in front by a dozen, leading 23-11 with 10:21 to play in the opening segment after a third Knights turnover. Darius Johnson, who has been phenomenal throughout the Crown, picked up two early fouls, subbing out shortly after the Knights went down 12.
Dior Johnson got things going back in the right direction, cashing in on a jumper followed by a quick spinning shot from high in the paint from Jordan Ivy-Curry, making it 23-15. Nebraska answered with a layup before Ivy-Curry swished one from deep. Nils Machowski missed a layup but collected his own miss, slashing Nebraska’s lead to five at 25-20 with 7:54 remaining.
The Knights continued to chip away at the Cornhusker lead. Machowski buried a three with six minutes to play, making it a 29-26 deficit before Nebraska extended the lead back to seven with 4:58 to play.
The three point bucket for the Cornhuskers at the 4:58 mark was their final make from the field of the half, missing their last seven attempts. UCF finished the half scoring nine of the final 11 points to erase the deficit and head to the break tied 35-35. Ivy-Curry hit a triple, followed with two points each from Hendricks and Darius, tying the game at 33 before Nebraska’s two free throws and a Dallan ‘Deebo’ Coleman layup finished the scoring in the half.
The bank was open, as it always is in Las Vegas, to start the second half for UCF with Machowski kissing one off the glass and down for the first points of the half. The two points were the first of a 14-0 UCF run as the Knights had everything clicking on both ends of the floor. Coleman slashed through the defense straight to the rim like a freight train before Thiam cashed in on a two-handed slam. The run continued with a triple from Machowski and another spinning layup from Ivy-Curry. Hendricks nailed a three, giving the Knights the 49-35 lead.
Nebraska’s cold snap finally ended with 14:36 remaining, which meant the Cornhuskers went over 10 minutes without a field goal. That opened up an 11-0 run for Nebraska though, cutting UCF’s lead to just three.
A big shot by Ivy-Curry in the corner put the Knights up by six with 11:58 to play, but again Nebraska went on a hot streak, scoring the next 13 points to go up seven with 7:27 remaining. A trio of threes and two dunks were responsible for the now 59-52 advantage. The Knights trimmed it back to four at 59-55, but that was the closest to comeback the Black and Gold got in the final game of the campaign.
Nebraska again got a streak going, scoring 12 of the next 16 points to retake a 12-point lead for the second time on the afternoon at 71-59 with 2:35 left. A glimmer of hope resurfaced as Ivy-Curry added five points to UCF’s total in 33 seconds, trimming the deficit to 71-64 with 1:53 remaining. Nebraska didn’t falter down the stretch, adding the finishing touches with free throws for the 77-66 final.
Ivy-Curry finished the contest with a game-high 29 points while Machowski was UCF's second-leading scorer on the afternoon with 13 points. UCF's streak of making 10+ threes in each postseason game was snapped, sinking just seven against Nebraska.
UCF’s 2024-25 campaign saw the Knights win 20 games for the third time under Coach Dawkins and for the 10th time in program history. It was the fifth postseason in nine seasons with Dawkins at the helm.
Darius finishes his remarkable UCF career with 1,586 points for an eighth-place all-time finish as a Knight. He also finishes second in steals (239), third in assists (470), third in games played (125) fourth in made three pointers (218) and fifth in free throw percentage (81.4%) among UCF career ranks. His 644 points this season are the sixth most in a campaign by a Knight, and his 83 steals are the most in a season in UCF’s Division I tenure.
The Knights trip through the College Basketball Crown included a 76-75 win over Oregon State, an 88-80 victory over conference-foe Cincinnati and a thrilling come-from-behind effort to beat Villanova 104-98.