ORLANDO — A career‑best 30 points from point guard Themus Fulks and multiple second‑half surges weren’t enough to overcome spotty shooting and the size and strength of No. 1 Arizona in an 84-77 loss before a near-record 10,000 fans inside Addition Financial Arena on Saturday evening.
The Knights fall to 3-2 in Big 12 play and 14-3 overall, while the Wildcats remain undefeated with an 18-0 overall record and 4-0 conference mark.
"Every single game in the Big 12 is going to be like this,” said UCF Head Coach Johnny Dawkins. “And it's just the way it is in this conference from top to bottom. And we have to make sure we prepare appropriately...It's not going to change, no matter where you're at, home or on the road, you're going to play great teams, it's going to be great environments.”
After battling to a 9-9 tie at the first media timeout, the Knights went cold on offense and were outscored 17-2, the lone score coming on a Jeremy Foumena dunk off a great pass from Fulks, over a 7-minute stretch that saw the Wildcats build a 26-11 lead with 9:52 remaining in the half.
That’s when Jordan Burks took over, refusing to let the game slip away by pouring in seven consecutive points off a pair of 3-pointers and a layup off a steal to cut the deficit to nine, 27-18, with just over seven minutes left.
The rest of the Black and Gold players and an awakened fan base picked up on the energy and hit eight of their next nine attempts from the field to close to within 35-31, with four minutes left before intermission.
A three from Fulks, who shot 7‑of‑8 from the floor in the first half, cut the UCF deficit to 40-38 with 35-seconds left in the half, before a free throw gave Arizona a 41-38 lead at the break.
A quick second half start by the Wildcats would build a seven‑point lead, 47-40, with 17:28 remaining, but the Knights would answer again with an and‑one from Fulks bringing them back within two, 51-49, at the 13:58 mark. But another offensive drought, lasting nearly four minutes, allowed Arizona to rebuild a 12‑point cushion, 61-49, with 10 minutes left.
UCF would not quit and got as close as 81-75 on a three‑pointer from Chris Johnson with 24 seconds left, but the guests closed the door at the free‑throw line, making 9-of-10 charity tosses in the final 1:07.
Folks continued his amazing run of late, dropping in a career-high 30 points to along with a game-high eight assists, five rebounds and two steals.
Burks and Riley Kugel were also in double figures with 16 and 12 points, respectively.
The Knights hung with the Wildcats, who are winning the rebound battle by nearly 14 a game, on the boards, getting out-rebounded by one, 37-36, but a 10-point deficit at the free throw line, 23-33 for Arizona to 13-14 for UCF, proved more than the hosts could overcome.
The Black and Gold were coming off their first Big 12 road win, leading nearly all the way in besting Kansas State, 82-73, at Bramlage Coliseum in Manhattan, Kansas, last Wednesday.
The hosts’ biggest lead was two points, the last at 8-6, and after taking a 10-9 lead, UCF took the lead for good at 12-10 on a 3-pointer by Kugel with 15:07 lead in the first half and would lead by as many as 16. The guests would lead 42-28 at halftime and while KSU did get as close as two points, it would never lead again.
Kugel scored 10 of the Knights’ first 14 points and would lead his club in scoring for the fourth consecutive game with 19 on the night to go along with seven rebounds.
But it was Fulks that was the difference, finishing with 13 points and 12 assists, which moved him up yo No. 7 nationally in assists per game (7.3 apg). But his impact went far beyond the stat line. Fulks etched his name into the UCF record books, becoming the first Knight ever with five double-digit assist games in a single season, the first in a Black and Gold uniform this century to post three point-assist double-doubles in a season, and the first in program history to record back-to-back games with at least 10 assists.
Jamichael Stillwell was actually judged the Player of the Game with 18 points and seven rebounds, while Devan Cambridge had a break-out game with 11 points, 4-for-4 from the floor, six rebounds, two assists and a blocked shot.
Up Next:
The Knights have a busy week ahead, having played at former No. 2 Iowa State on Tuesday and will be at Colorado on Saturday at 3 p.m. on ESPN. The team will then return to Orlando to battle Arizona State in the Coaches vs. Cancer Game on Tuesday (Jan. 27) at 7 p.m. with the game also being streamed on ESPN+. The games will also be on the radio at 96.9 (FM) The Game.
Here are the box scores:
Wednesday, January 14, 2026
At Bramlage Coliseum, Manhattan, Kansas
UCF 82, Kansas State 73
UCF (14-2, 3-1 Big 12)
Riley Kugel 6-11 5-7 19, Jamichael Stillwell 8-14 2-4 18, Themus Fulks 6-11 0-0 13, Jordan Burks 3-6 0-0 8, John Bol 1-2 0-0 2, Devan Cambridge 4-4 2-3 11, Chris Johnson 3-5 2-2 9, Jeremy Foumena 1-6 0-2 2, Carmelo Pacheco 0-2 0-0 0. Totals _ 32-61 11-18 82.
Kansas State (9-8, 0-4 Big 12)
PJ Haggerty 9-18 5-8 23, Khamari McGriff 7-9 1-2 15, Abdi Bashir Jr. 4-13 0-0 12, Taj Manning 5-9 0-0 10, Nate Johnson 2-9 2-2 7, David Castillo 2-4 0-1 5, Dorin Buca 0-0 1-2 1, CJ Jones 0-3 0-0 0. Totals _ 29-65 9-15 73.
Halftime Score _ UCF 42, KSU 28. 3-point Field Goals _ UCF 7-15 (Kugel 2-4, Burks 2-4, Johnson 1-2, Fulks 1-1, Cambridge 1-1, Pacheco 0-2, Stillwell 0-1); KSU 6-30 (Bashir 4-13, Johnson 1-7, Castillo 1-2, Manning 0-4, Haggerty 0-2, Jones 0-2). Team Fouls _ UCF 14; KSU 18. Fouled Out _ none. Technical Fouls _ none. Rebounds _ UCF 35 (Kugel, Stillwell 7 each, Cambridge 6); KSU 34 (Manning 7, Johnson 6, Haggerty, McGriff 5 each). Turnovers _ UCF 10; KSU 142. Assists _ UCF 18 (Fulks 12, Kugel, Cambridge 2 each); KSU 25 (Johnson 10, Haggerty 5, Bashir, Manning, Jones 3 each). Steals _ UCF 8 (Fulks 3, Johnson 2); KSU 5 (Johnson 3). Blocked Shots _ UCF 3 (Kugel, Stillwell, Cambridge); KSU 1 (Johnson).
Saturday, January 17, 2026
at Addition Financial Arena
Arizona 84, UCF 77
Arizona (19-0, 5-0 Big 12)
Jaden Bradley 6-11 11-13 23, Brayden Burries 8-14 0-0 18, Motiejus Krivas 6-9 4-4 17, Ivan Kharchenkov 5-6 0-0 10, Koa Peat 1-4 2-4 4, Tobe Awaka 2-3 6-12 10, Dwayne Aristode 1-2 0-0 2, Anthony Dell’Orso 0-6 0-0 0. Totals _ 29-55 23-33 84.
UCF (14-3, 3-2 Big 12)
Themus Fulks 11-18 6-6 30, Jordan Burks 6-12 2-2 16, Riley Kugel 5-18 1-2 12, Jamichael Stillwell 2-7 0-0 6, John Bol 1-1 0-0 2, Chris Johnson 2-7 2-2 7, Devan Cambridge 0-2 2-2 2, Jeremy Foumena 1-3 0-0 2, Carmelo Pacheco 0-2 0-0 0. Totals _ 28-70 13-14 14 - 22 77.
Halftime Score _ Arizona 41, UCF 38. 3-point Field Goals _ Arizona 3-13 (Burries 2-5, Krivas 1-1, Dell'Orso 0-3, Bradley 0-2, Peat 0-1, Aristode 0-1); UCF 8-26 (Burks 2-6, Stillwell 2-4, Fulks 2-4, Kugel 1-5, Johnson 1-3, Pacheco 0-2, Cambridge 0-2). Team Fouls _ Arizona 13; UCF 23. Fouled Out _ Arizona (Awaka); UCF (Fulks). Technical Fouls _ none. Rebounds _ Arizona 37 (Krivas 12, Awake 9, Bradley 6); UCF 36 (Stillwell, Foumena 6 each, Fulks, Bol 5 each). Turnovers _ Arizona 12; UCF 13. Assists _ Arizona 13 (Bradley 5, Dell’Orso 3, Kharchenkov 2); UCF 13 (Fulks 8, Kugel 3, Stillwell 2). Steals _ Arizona 5 (Bradley, Krivas 2 each); UCF 6 (Burks 3, Fulks 2). Blocked Shots _ Arizona 3 (Kharchenkov, Awaka, Dell’Orso); UCF 1 (Foumena).
