BOULDER, CO — The UCF men’s basketball team fell on the road Saturday afternoon 76-63 to Colorado.
Mikey Williams, who was making his first collegiate start in place of the injured Jordan Ivy-Curry, opened the game with the Knights’ first two points, but both teams started cold from the floor as UCF held a 9-8 lead six minutes in.
The shots finally started falling, but unfortunately for the visitors, it was the other black and gold team that pieced together a 7-0 run, while UCF was in a one-for-seven shooting slump, to take a 13-9 lead.
UCF started to get shots to fall out of the under-12 media timeout, going on a 22-14 run, that included a 10-0 stretch, to put the good Black and Gold up 31-27. Nils Machowski was the catalyst in the run, earning seven straight points with two baskets, including a steal and a dunk, surrounding a three. Colorado missed seven shots in as many attempts, including three turnovers in a two-minute span to help UCF climb on top.
But the Buffaloes would finish the half outscoring UCF 11-5, a stretch that included a 7-0 run where five points came from free throws, taking a 38-36 lead into the break. The Knights held a 14-2 edge in points off turnovers heading into the break and a slight 16-14 edge in points in the paint.
UCF came out solid on defense to start the second half, with Dallan ‘Deebo’ Coleman coming up with a pair of steals, but the Knights failed to convert and, after Colorado on a spinning layup, both teams went ice cold, missing a combined 15 field goal attempts, before the Knights finally found its first basket of the second half, after missing the first seven, on a Keyshawn Hall three-pointer.
The hosts slowly began to pull away, going up 10 at 51-41. UCF was able to cut it back to five at 55-50 after Machowski drilled a three-pointer and Hall added two free throws.
But a pair of triples around a missed front end of a 1-and-1 free throw attempt by the Knights, swung the momentum heavily in the Buffaloes’ favor and the Knights were never able to get closer than six points the rest of the way.
Machowski had career day, as he was a perfect five-for-five from the floor (2-for-2 on 3’s), tying a career-high 13 points to go along with five rebounds, three steals and two assists. Hall led UCF with 19 points and nine rebounds, while Darius Johnson had 15 points.
Up Next:
The Knights will look to bounce back on the road against Oklahoma State at Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater tonight (Wednesday) at 9 p.m. on ESPNU.
Here is the box score:
Colorado 76, UCF 63
UCF (13-12, 4-10)
Keyshawn Hall 6-14 5-7 19, Darius Johnson 6-13 2-2 15, Mikey Williams 3-10 2-2 8, Moustapha Thiam 1-9 4-4 7, Dallan "Deebo" Coleman 0-5 1-3 1, Nils Machowski 5-5 1-2 13, Benny Williams 0-2 0-0 0, Rokas Jocius 0-1 0-0 0, Tyler Hendricks 0-1 0-0 0, JJ Taylor 0-1 0-0 0. Totals _ 21-61 15-20 63.
Colorado (10-15, 1-13)
Andrej Jakimovski 6-10 0-0 15, Julian Hammond III 2-10 6-6 11, Sebastian Rancik 4-11 2-2 10, RJ Smith 2-5 4-4 9, Bangot Dak 4-9 1-2 9, Javon Ruffin 3-5 0-1 8, Elijah Malone 3-5 1-2 7, Assane Diop 1-2 4-4 4, Trevor Baskin 0-2 1-2 1. Totals _ 25-59 19-23 76.
Halftime _ Colorado 38, UCF 36. 3-point field goals _ UCF 6-23 (Hall 2-4, Machowski 2-2, Thiam 1-5, Da. Johnson 1-4, Coleman 0-3, M. Williams 0-2, B. Williams 0-1, Taylor 0-1, Hendricks 0-1); Colorado 7-22 (Jakimovski 3-6, Ruffin 2-4, Smith 1-4, Hammond 1-3, Rancik 0-2, Das 0-1, Malone 0-1, Baskin 0-1). Team fouls _ UCF 19; Colorado 19. Fouled out _ none. Technical fouls _ none. Rebounds _ UCF 29 (Hall 9, Machowski 5); Colorado 52 (Diop 10, Jakimovski, Rancik 7 each, Smith 6, Hammond, Das, Malone 5 each). Turnovers _ UCF 8; Colorado 19. Assists _ UCF 8 (Da. Johnson, Machowski 2 each); Colorado 11 (Dak 3, Ruffin 2). Steals _ UCF 12 (Coleman 4, Machowski 3); Colorado 5 (Hammond, Rancik, Dak, Ruffin, Diop). Blocked shots _ UCF 6 (Thiam 5); Colorado 5 (Hammond, Dak 2 each).
