ORLANDO — The UCF men’s basketball team fell in a tight contest Saturday afternoon as BYU (15-6 overall, 6-4 Big 12) edged the Knights (13-8, 4-6), 81-75, in a game that came down to the final few minutes at Addition Financial Arena Saturday afternoon.
“I thought considering we were in foul trouble with Keyshawn (Hall) sitting out most of that half, I thought we were in a good position,” said UCF Head Coach Johnny Dawkins. “We had a two-point lead and had a chance to have a bigger lead. For us I thought our start to the second half wasn’t very good. We had four turnovers in the first four minutes. It was turnovers that I think really gave them some easier opportunities. We had seven turnovers in the second half, that’s not who we’ve been.”
BYU opened the game by making three of the game’s first four baskets, two of them triples, to take an 8-2 lead 3:18 into the game. Hall earned a tough lay in, followed by a fastbreak triple from Darius Johnson, making it just a one-point deficit. BYU answered with a triple, only to be followed by one from UCF’s Jordan Ivy-Curry.
A dicey tangle in the paint on a possible shot-clock violation led to Hall being whistled for his second foul. Hall was subsequently whistled for a technical foul for arguing the call, leading him to sitting for the final 13:26 of the half.
The Black and Gold used the adversity to mount a 7-0 run. Rokas Jocius earned two tough points before Johnson earned a pair from the charity stripe. Ivy-Curry cashed in with another triple to give UCF the edge, 19-16, with 11:26 left in the first.
After the Cougars took a 25-24 edge, UCF pieced together a 12-4 run to take a 36-29 lead with 3:27 to go. The hosts still held a six point edge with 35 seconds left in the half, but fouled a BYU shooter from distance on a 4-point and-one, slicing the Knights advantage to just two at 40-38 heading into halftime.
The Cougars came out on fire to start the second half, scoring the first eight points, three of which came thanks to three UCF turnovers in the first 3:38 to take a 46-40 edge. After a timeout, the Black and Gold got it going in the from of a give and go from Johnson to Moustapha Thiam 4:24 into the period and the 7-foot-2 freshman added his first triple of the game his next trip down the floor, cutting the deficit to one.
Foul trouble continued to find the Knights as Johnson picked up four fouls before seven minutes had passed in the half, sending him to the bench with 14:07 left to play. BYU only benefited two points out of the fouls going back up three before Thiam retaliated with his signature baseline jumper, making it 48-47 BYU with 13:07 left.
The teams continued to swap baskets and it was 65-65 when the Cougars’ 13th three pointer of the evening put them up 68-65 with 4:46 to play, a lead they would not relinquish.
A pair of second chance points off a missed three points gave BYU a four-point lead with 2:03 remaining. A UCF turnover immediately led to two more points off a step back jumper, putting the Knights down by half a dozen with 88 seconds to play.
The 14 threes made by BYU tied for the most allowed this season.
Despite his foul difficulties, Hall led the hosts with 20 points, while Thiam (17), Johnson (16) and Ivy-Curry (14) also finished in double figure scoring.
UP NEXT:
The Knights look to snap their skid when they host longtime rival Cincinnati tonight (Wednesday) at 7 p.m. inside Addition Financial Arena. the game will be broadcast by the CBS Sports Network. UCF will travel to Waco, Texas, on Saturday to take on Baylor at 2 p.m. on ESPN+.
FOLLOW THE KNIGHTS:
Follow UCF men’s basketball on X (@UCF_MBB), Instagram (@UCF.MBB) and Facebook (/UCFMensBasketball).
Here is the box score:
BYU 81, UCF 75
BYU (15-6, 6-4)
Richie Saunders 8-14 0-0 22, Mawot Mag 6-10 4-5 19, Trevin Knell 4-9 3-3 15, Keba Keita 4-6 2-2 10, Egor Demin 1-3 0-0 3, Fousseyni Traore 4-6 1-2 9, Dawson Baker 1-5 0-3 2, Dallin Hall 0-1 1-4 1, Trey Stewart 0-0 0-0 0, Kanon Catchings 0-4 0-0 0, Mihailo Boskovic 0-0 0-0 0. Totals _ 28-58 11-19 81.
UCF (13-8, 4-6)
Keyshawn Hall 6-13 6-6 20, Moustapha Thiam 7-12 2-2 17, Darius Johnson 4-13 6-6 16, Jordan Ivy-Curry 4-12 3-4 14, Dallan "Deebo" Coleman 0-3 2-2 2, Nils Machowski 1-4 2-2 4, Rokas Jocius 1-2 0-1 2, Benny Williams 0-2 0-2 0, Dior Johnson 0-1 0-0 0, Tyler Hendricks 0-0 0-0 0. Totals _ 23-62 21-25 75.
Halftime _ UCF 40; BYU 38. 3-point field goals _ BYU 14-32 (Saunders 6-9, Knell 4-7, Mag 3-6, Demin 1-3, Baker 0-4, Catchings 0-2, Hall 0-1); UCF 8-26 (Ivy-Curry 3-7, Da. Johnson 2-6, Hall 2-4, Thiam 1-3, Machowski 0-3, Coleman 0-2, Di. Johnson 0-1). Team fouls _ BYU 22; UCF 17. Fouled out _ none. Technical fouls _ UCF (Hall). Rebounds _ BYU 40 (Keita 7, Catchings 5); UCF 34 (Hall 8, Thiam 6). Turnovers _ BYU 17; UCF 10. Assists _ BYU 22 (Demin 6, Mag, Hall 5 each); UCF 10 (Da. Johnson, Hall 3 each). Steals _ BYU 7 (Saunders, Keita 2 each); UCF 11 (Coleman 4, Da. Johnson 3, Williams 2). Blocked shots _ BYU 3 (Keita 2); UCF 4 (Thiam 3).
