WACO, TX — The UCF men’s basketball team (13-10, 4-8 Big 12) lost its fourth straight game and sixth over the last seven with a 91-76 loss to Baylor (15-8, 7-5) Saturday afternoon.
After three turnovers, Jordan Ivy-Curry buried a three-pointer and Keyshawn Hall dropped in a short jumper to give the Knights and early 5-4 lead.
The game turned into a case of short runs as a part of ‘3’s’ gave the Bears a 5-point lead, but a layup and a steal and layup by the guests pulled them within one point, 12-11.
Baylor then went on a 5-0 run to take a 17-11 before UCF got things clicking, going on a 14-4 run over a 4:23 stretch to lead 25-21.
The hosts would regain the lead on a 9-0 run, which turned into a 23-11 scoring advantage the remainder of the half as Baylor took a 45-36 lead into the break. After starting the game making seven of their first 20 attempts, the Bears closed the half by making seven of their final 10 attempts.
The Knights began the second half with a 9-5 scoring edge to cut the deficit to 50-45 and were in position to make a move to grind their way to a comeback.
The game unraveled for the Black and Gold out of an ensuing timeout as Baylor began feasting on both ends of the floor, creating a 16-0 run over a 3:12 span.
The rest of the game was simply a formality as the Bears’ lead grew to 24 points with 10:02 remaining at 73-49. One bright spot of the contest came with just over five minutes to play as Hall earned his 1,000th career point on a layup in the paint for his game-high 19th and final points of the game, finishing the game with exactly 1,000 points.
UCF had four players score in double figures again as Hall was followed by 7-foot-2 freshman center Moustapha Thiam, who had a big game, going 7-of-10 from the floor, including 3-of-4 on 3-point attempts, to finish with 18 points, Darius Johnson, who was 7-for-7 at three free throw line, with 12 points and Ivy-Curry with 10.
Up Next:
The Knights were looking to snap their four-game slide against No. 8 Iowa State at home on Tuesday and will travel to Boulder to face Colorado on Saturday at the CU Events Center at 3 p.m. The games will be streamed on ESPN+.
Here is the box score:
Baylor 91, UCF 76
UCF (13-10, 4-8)
Keyshawn Hall 7-11 5-5 19, Moustapha Thiam 7-10 1-2 18, Darius Johnson 2-7 7-7 12, Jordan Ivy-Curry 4-14 1-2 10, Dallan "Deebo" Coleman 1-4 0-0 3, Mikey Williams 3-4 0-0 8, Benny Williams 1-2 0-0 2, Dior Johnson 1-3 0-0 2, Rokas Jocius 0-2 2-2 2, Tyler Hendricks 0-2 0-0 0, Nils Machowski 0-0 0-0 0. Totals _ 26-59 16-18 76.
Baylor (15-8, 7-5)
Norchad Omier 6-10 6-6 18, V.J. Edgecombe 6-11 4-4 17, Jeremy Roach 3-6 2-4 9, Robert Wright 2-9 0-0 5, Josh Ojianwuna 1-1 0-0 2, Langston Love 5-9 4-5 16, Jalen Celestine 5-7 0-0 12, Jayden Nunn 4-7 3-3 12, Davidson Hubbard 0-0 0-0 0, Omar Adegbola 0-0 0-0 0, Jason Asemota 0-0 0-0 0, Marino Dubravcic 0-0 0-0 0. Totals _ 32-60 19-22 91.
Halftime _ Baylor 45, UCF 36. 3-point field goals _ UCF 8-20 (Thiam 3-4, M. Williams 2-3, Ivy-Curry 1-7, Da. Johnson 1-2, Coleman 1-2, Di. Johnson 0-1); Baylor 8-25 (Love 2-6, Celestine 2-4, Edgecombe 1-4, Roach 1-4, Nunn 1-4, Wright 1-3). Team fouls _ UCF 20; Baylor 15. Fouled out _ none. Technical fouls _ none. Rebounds _ UCF 29 (Hall 8, Coleman 6); Baylor 28 (Omier 12, Love 6, Celestine 5). Turnovers _ UCF 12; Baylor 10. Assists _ UCF 11 (Da. Johnson 5, Hall 2); Baylor 20 (Edgecombe 5, Roach, Wright 4 each). Steals _ UCF 6 (Ivy-Curry 2); Baylor 11 (Edgecombe, Nunn, Wright 2 each). Blocked shots _ UCF 3 (Thiam, Coleman, M. Williams); Baylor 0.
