Men’s Hoops Set to Host No. 1 Arizona for First-Ever Visit

GAME INFORMATION
Date: Saturday, Jan. 17
Time: 4 p.m. ET
TV: ESPN
TV Talent: Rich Hollenberg (PxP), King McClure (Analyst)
Radio: FM 96.9/AM 740 The Game
Radio Talent: Marc Daniels (PxP)
Live Stats: click here

History against No. 1

• The matchup against the Wildcats marks the fifth time UCF has ever faced off against the No. 1 team in the land, and the second time UCF has ever hosted the #1 team.
• UCF is seeking their first win against an AP No. 1 ever, dropping their last game against the top-ranked Houston on Mar. 6, 2024, 67-59.
• Johnny Dawkins is familiar with facing top-ranked teams. Dawkins is 1-7 all-time against number one, including 0-1 as UCF’s head coach, 0-2 as a Duke assistant coach, and 1-4 as a player at Duke.

Back-To-Back Against the Top Two

• UCF is set to face No. 1/1 Arizona (Saturday) and No. 2/2 Iowa State (Tuesday, Jan. 20) in back-to-back games.
• This will mark the first time in UCF program history that the Knights have faced the No. 1 and No. 2 in the AP poll in back-to-back games. 
• This marks just the seventh time in the last 30 seasons that a team had faced the AP No. 1 and AP No. 2 team in consecutive games. The previous occurrences were: Texas in 2024-25 (No. 1 Auburn, No. 2 Auburn) Tennessee in 2023-24 (No. 1 Kansas, No. 2 Purdue), Marquette in 2023-24 (No. 1 Kansas, No. 2 Purdue), K-State in 2019-20 (No. 1 Kansas, No. 2 Baylor), West Virginia in 2015- 16 (No. 1 Kansas, No. 2 Oklahoma) and St. John’s in 1998-99 (No. 1 UConn, No. 2 Duke).

Big 12 Road Woes No More | Knights Beat Kansas State 82-73

• UCF snapped an eight game Big 12 away game losing streak, getting the Knights’ first ever win at Bramlage Coliseum and advancing to 14-2 on the season.
• Themus Fulks recorded his fifth 10-plus assist performance of the season with 12 against the Wildcats and holds the program record for most 10-plus assist games in a single season by an individual player.
• Riley Kugel led in scoring for the fourth straight game, finishing with 19. 
• UCF faced Arizona for the first time in program history Jan. 11, 2025, with the Wildcats beating the Knights 88-80 in Tucson.

History With Arizona

• Johnny Dawkins has a unique history facing the Wildcats in his head coaching and playing career: Dawkins is 3-14 all-time when facing
• Arizona, specifically 0-1 as UCF Head Coach, 1-3 as Stanford’s head coach, and 2-0 as a Duke Assistant Coach.
• Dawkins has faced Arizona twice when the Wildcats have been ranked number one, losing by three as Stanford’s Head Coach and by eight as a Duke Assistant Coach.

Knights Hold Off Cincinnati At Home 

• In a game where neither team led by double digits, No. 25 UCF men’s basketball survived a late surge from Cincinnati to earn a 73-72
  victory Sunday night inside Addition Financial Arena.
• The Black and Gold shot 57.7% from the fi eld, their best mark against a Big 12 opponent since joining the conference ahead of the 2023-
  24 season.
• A 6-0 run by the Bearcats put them up by one with less than two minutes remaining, but a Fulks jumper gave UCF the lead with 13
  seconds remaining. The Knights held on defensively to secure the one-point victory.
• Riley Kugel led the game in scoring with 19, with Jamichael Stillwell adding 15 of his own, and Jeremy Foumena tailed 12 points with a
  season-high eight rebounds.
• Themus Fulks’ 12 assists is his fourth 10-plus assist performance on the season.

Rising Through the Ranks             

• UCF is now one of 22 Division I teams that have two losses or fewer on the season as of Jan. 15. 
• UCF men’s basketball debuted at No. 25 in the Week 9 Associated Press Top 25, marking its first appearance in the poll since 2019.
• The ranking comes during the best start of head coach Johnny Dawkins’ tenure, as the Knights enter Week 9 with a 12-1 record.
• UCF earned the ranking after a statement 81–75 win over then-No. 17 Kansas this past weekend.
• This marks just the sixth week UCF has appeared in the AP Top 25 since the program began in 1969, and the second time under Dawkins.
• As of Jan. 15, UCF ranks 35th in the NCAA NET, climbing as high as 30th, its best NET ranking since joining the Big 12. They have shown far more movement than in their first two seasons, when they sat 80th at this point in 2024 and 70th in 2023.
• The Knights are also 44th in KenPom, nearing the program’s all-time best of No. 34, last reached in 2019.
• UCF’s 9 quad 1-3 wins as of Jan. 15 are tied for the fifth most in Division I.
• UCF’s remaining schedule includes eight quad 1 games and six quad 2 games. The Knights are 2-2 in quad 1, having swept Texas A&M in a home-and-home series, but fell to now No. 11 Vanderbilt and at Oklahoma State.
• Dawkins’ 2018-19 team finished nonconference play ranked 46th in the NCAA NET Rankings, though they climbed as high as 26 before ending their season in the tournament’s second round.

Kugel Named Big 12 Starting Five - Week Nine            

• Riley Kugel was named to the Big 12 starting five, released on Jan. 5.
• The senior paced the Knights in a statement 81-75 victory over then-No. 17 Kansas on Jan. 3, scoring 19 points on 8-of-17 shooting. His performance was highlighted by a game-sealing and-one in the closing moments
• Kugel has reached double figures in nine games this year, with his standout outing coming against Vanderbilt. In that contest, he poured in a career-high 25 points on 4-of-5 shooting from beyond the arc, while adding four assists and five rebounds.

 

 

Knights Topple No. 17 Kansas in Big 12 Opener            

• With the game tied at 72 and under a minute remaining, Jordan Burks delivered when it mattered most. UCF and Kansas had battled every second, each team vying to start the Big 12 season 1-0. But Kansas’ hopes were dashed as Burks pulled up from the long range in the final moments, sinking a clutch three-pointer to lift the Knights to an 81-75 upset at Addition Financial Arena.
• This is the second consecutive season the Knights have won their conference opener, and the first time they’ve beaten a ranked opponent since last year’s season home opener against then No. 13/15 Texas A&M. Dawkins, as a player and coach, is now a combined 7-3 in meetings against either Kansas or Bill Self, or a combination of both.
• The Knights committed just six turnovers all evening while forcing 12 from the Jayhawks, who normally average 10.8 turnovers per game and force 9.46 themselves.
• A trio of Knights scored in double digits as Riley Kugel led the way with 19 points followed by Themus Fulks with 16 and Burks added in 14. 

Now you’re Dawkin; Knights Start 12-1            

• Since head coach Johnny Dawkins took the helm in 2016, the Knights have never opened a season quite like this, as their electrifying 12-1 start stands as the best of his tenure. Their win over No. 17 Kansas on Jan. 3 also pushed their streak to 11 straight victories, the longest ever by a Dawkins-led team and the longest since the 2010-11 season when the squad opened the season on a 14-0 tear.
• UCF was one of three teams in the Big 12 with just one loss as they entered conference play, joined by Oklahoma State, No. 8 Houston and No. 19 BYU, while No. 1 Arizona and No. 3 Iowa State stepped into Big 12 play undefeated.
• Beyond Dawkins’ own record-breaking start, his group has already left its mark in the program record book, as the Knights set a new single-game record with 19 made three-pointers in their Dec. 20 win over FGCU, surpassing the previous mark of 17 set against Tulsa on Feb. 11, 2023.
• Dawkins has his core group locked down early, as the Knights have yet to lose with Riley Kugel, Themus Fulks, Jamichael Stillwell, Jordan Burks, and John Bol in the starting lineup.

Fulks Controls The Flow            

• Milwaukee transfer Themus Fulks has quickly established himself as UCF’s floor general, ranking second in the Big 12 and seventh nationally with 7.3 assists per game (117 assists) across 16 games. He delivered his most impressive performance in the Knights’ win over Quinnipiac on Nov. 25, dishing out 13 assists, the most by a UCF player in more than a decade. That effort left him just one shy of the program’s single-game record of 14, held by Kingsley Edwards and Cory Perry.
• Should Fulks maintain a seven-assist per game average across the regular season, he’d shatter the previous program single-season assist record of 183 set in the 1991-92 season by Sinua Phillips.
• Fulks is one of only two players in the Big 12 with at least five games with 10 or more assists, Texas Tech’s Christinan Anderson has reached the feat six times this season. 
• Fulks has directly contributed 208 points himself and another 277 through his assists, giving him responsibility for 485 of UCF’s 1,372 total points. That means he has accounted for an impressive 35.3 percent of the Knights’ total scoring production this season  
• Fulks has recorded two point-assist double-doubles this season: 11 points and 10 assists against Oakland, and an impressive 24 points and 12 assists in the win over FAU. That makes him one of only three Knights this century, alongside Isaiah Sykes and Darius Johnson, to post two point-assist double-doubles in a single season. No guard has ever recorded three in one season.

The 4 Factor            

• Number four, Jamichael Stillwell, who transferred from Milwaukee alongside Fulks, has become a dominant two-way presence for the Knights, already recording five double-doubles across 16 games. Unsurprising for the senior who averaged 13 points and 10.7 rebounds last season. He ranks third in the Big 12 and 30th nationally with 3.44 offensive rebounds per game, highlighted by a career-best 10 in the win over VMI, which ties him for second all-time in program history for offensive boards in a single game.
• Stillwell is on pace to surpass UCF’s single-season double-double record of 12, set by Tacko Fall during the 2016-17 season. Notably, Stillwell recorded 16 double-doubles last season at Milwaukee.
• Fall also set UCF’s single-season offensive rebounding record in 2016-17 with 129, another benchmark Stillwell could challenge if he maintains his production on the offensive glass throughout the season.
• It is worth noting that Fall was a true center, but no forward has surpassed 100 offensive rebounds in a single season, a benchmark that Stillwell is already almost halfway towards.
• Stillwell’s five double-doubles tie him for third-most in the Big 12 as non-conference play concludes, and rank third in program history for double-doubles during non-conference competition, trailing only 2012-13 Keith Clanton (7) and 2016-17 Tacko Fall (8).

Bench Brigade            

• Depth has been a defining trait for the 2025-26 roster, with six different players leading the team in scoring through 16 games. A balance that has translated to one of the Big 12’s most productive benches, as the Black and Gold are averaging 27.56 points per game from their reserves, fifth-best in the conference, highlighted by a 51-point bench performance in the win over Florida A&M on Nov. 11.
• The Knights’ bench reached a program high in 2010-11, scoring 828 points at an average of 25.5 per game. So far, the 2025-26 reserves have amassed 363 points, hinting that this year’s bench could emerge as one of the most efficient in recent history.
• Among the UCF’s bench contributors are key sharpshooters like Carmelo Pacheco, who has scored 66 of his 78 points this season from beyond the arc. Pacheco ranked fourth in NCAA Division I in three-point field goal percentage last season at 46.4 percent and is looking to match that again, currently maintaining a strong 39.3 percent.
• Beyond scoring, the bench has contributed 177 rebounds so far, echoing Coach Dawkins’ 2023-24 unit, which set a program record with 475 rebounds, a mark this year’s group is already more than a third of the way toward.

 

SINGLE GAME AND SEASON TICKETS ON SALE NOW
UCF men's basketball single-match and season tickets are on sale now. Be sure to catch all the action at Addition Financial Arena. Tickets can be purchased online at ucfknights.com/tickets or by calling the ticket office at (407) 823-1000.

ABOUT UCF ATHLETICS
UCF is a proud member of the Big 12 Conference. Our mission is to positively transform the lives of our students academically, athletically, and personally through a nationally competitive intercollegiate athletics program that enhances the reputation and visibility of the University. We strive to be Florida's preeminent athletic program, representing UCF and our community with distinction on the national stage as "Orlando's Hometown Team". To learn more about UCF and Athletics, please visit our websites at www.ucf.edu and www.ucfknights.com.