ORLANDO — Few Knights have spent more hours inside Addition Financial Arena than Darius Johnson, and Wednesday night, the senior was right at home as the UCF men’s basketball team (16-14 overall, 7-12 Big 12) toppled Oklahoma State (14-16, 6-13), 83-70, thanks to a marvelous performance.
One of seven Big 12 players to suit up in the same uniform for all four years, Johnson's senior send-off was a spectacle to behold. Johnson broke his career high in points with 36, built by seven threes and a perfect game (9-for-9) from the charity stripe. When breaching his high at 34 points, the DMV native also made his 200th career ‘3’, something that’s only been done by four other players in UCF history. Leaving his mark in one more place on UCF record books, Johnson’s 36-point performance ties the most points recorded by a senior on their senior night with Jermaine Taylor who did so in 2009.
“I thought it was a great team effort,” said UCF Head Coach Johnny Dawkins. “I thought our guys did a really good job… DJ scored 36 on senior night, a special night, a night that we will never forget.”
Johnson knocked down a 3-pointer for the first points of the game, but offensive play started slowly for both teams. The Cowboys found their footing first, converting a pair of layups and forcing five UCF turnovers in a three-minute stretch to take their largest lead of the half, 16-9, with 12:53 left to play.
Triples from Nils Machowski and Johnson for the Knights tied the game at 16-16 with 10:16 left and back-to-back buckets from Moustapha Thiam during a 9-0 run marked by five consecutive made field goals gave them the upper hand with just over eight to play at 22-18.
The Cowboys would take control, however, and outscored the hosts 22-11 before JJ Taylor rose above the crowd for a monster slam dunk on a missed shot ended the half, sending the Knights into the locker room trailing 40-35.
A Cowboy 7-0 to start the half put UCF in its largest hole of the night at 47-37 with 17:56 left to go.
After a time out, a six-point tear from Keyshawn Hall was followed by Johnson pouring in seven points in a two-minute stretch to knot the game at 52-52 at 12:20 and an amazing ‘and-one’ from Dallan ‘Deebo’ Coleman secured the Knight’s first lead since the four-minute mark in the first half at 56-54 with 10:56 left.
Sinking six of seven shots during a 14-2 scoring spree forced the Cowboys to call a timeout at the 9:26 mark and UCF holding a 60-54 advantage. But it was for nought as Johnson drained back-to-back shots from behind the arc, extending the Knights lead to 66-56 with 7:24 left and the Knights would never lose their double-digit lead again.
In addition to Johnson’s 36, Hall chipped in with 18 points and nine rebounds, while Machowski had a big night with nine points and eight rebounds and Thiam had eight points and seven rebounds to go along with three blocked shots, giving him 73, breaking the previous record of 70 held by Tacko Fall, and just one away from tying John Friday’s 1986-87 season single season block record of 74.
Up Next:
The Knights wrap up their regular season in Morgantown, West Virginia today (Saturday) against the Mountaineers at 5 p.m. The game will be streamed by ESPN+ and broadcast on radio by FM 96.9 The Game
Here is the box score:
UCF 83, Oklahoma State 70
Oklahoma State (14-16, 6-13)
Arturo Dean 5-11 2-3 12, Abou Ousmane 3-13 5-6 11, Jamyron Keller 4-7 0-0 11, Bryce Thompson 2-6 0-0 4, Robert Jennings 1-3 0-0 2, Brandon Newman 3-8 4-4 13, Marchelus Avery 3-9 2-2 8, Khalil Brantley 2-4 0-0 5, Pat Suemnick 2-3 0-0 4, Connor Dow 0-2 0-0 0. Totals _ 25-66 13-15 70.
UCF (16-14, 7-12)
Darius Johnson 10-18 9-9 36, Keyshawn Hall 4-13 10-12 18, Moustapha Thiam 3-5 2-2 8, Dallan "Deebo" Coleman 1-4 1-1 3, Tyler Hendricks 1-7 0-0 3, Nils Machowski 2-5 4-4 9, JJ Taylor 2-2 0-0 5, Dior Johnson 0-1 1-2 1, Benny Williams 0-1 0-0 0. Totals _ 23-56 27-30 83.
Halftime _ Oklahoma State 40, UCF 35. 3-point field goals _ Oklahoma State 7-25 (Keller 3-5, Newman 3-5, Brantley 1-1, Avery 0-5, Ousmane 0-4, Dean 0-3, Dow 0-2); UCF 10-28 (Da. Johnson 7-12, Hendricks 1-4, Machowski 1-3, Taylor 1-1, Hall 0-4, Coleman 0-2, Thiam 0-1, Di. Johnson 0-1). Team fouls _ Oklahoma State 21; UCF 16. Fouled out _ none. Technical fouls _ none. Rebounds _ Oklahoma State 26 (Dean 6); UCF 50 (Hall 9, Machowski 8, Thiam, Hendricks 7 each, Da. Johnson, Taylor 5 each). Turnovers _ Oklahoma State 9; UCF 19. Assists _ Oklahoma State 14 (Dean 7, Keller, Newman, Brantley 2 each); UCF 16 (Da. Johnson, Hall 5 each, Hendricks, Machowski 2 each). Steals _ Oklahoma State 12 (Dean 4, Suemnick 3, Newman 2); UCF 6 (Coleman 2). Blocked shots _ Oklahoma State 4 (Ousmane, Keller, Jennings, Newman); UCF 7 (Thiam 3, Hendricks 2).
