ORLANDO — No one saw this coming.
Struggling to get any kind of flow going in the game and sitting in the middle of an 18-7 run by Arizona State, a lethargic UCF men’s basketball team found itself facing a seemingly insurmountable 12 point deficit, 70-58, with just over six minutes remaining.
But this never-day-die group suddenly caught fire behind a large palm frond waving crown, knocking down its final five 3-point attempts to rally for a 79-76 victory on Tuesday evening in Addition Financial Arena.
“We found a way. We had to dig deep,” head coach Johnny Dawkins had to say about the miraculous come-from-behind victory.
The Knights improved to 16-4 on the season and 5-3 in conference play, their best mark since the 2018-19 season, and their best Big 12 Conference start. ASU fell to 11-10 on the season and 2-6 in Big 12 play.
The hosts opened the game on a 5-0 run and led by seven early, 11-7, but the Sun Devils got things going and would outscore UCF 20-11, including a 13-2 run over a 3:02 stretch, to lead 27-22 lead with 5:34 remaining in the first.
The rest of the half was played fairly even, UCF edging ASU 13-12, as then game went to intermission with the Sun Devils leading five four, 39-35.
The Knights only made 1-of-10 3-point attempts in the first 20 minutes, while ASU knocked down five triples. Luckily for the Black and Gold, 7-foot-2 center John Bol was holding his own in the paint, going 3-for-3 from the floor and pulling down nine rebounds, four on the offensive end.
While the hosts continued to struggle from the floor, making just 1-of-7 from 3-point range over the first 14 minutes, Arizona State came out on fire, shooting 58.3-percent from the field and making 5-of-6 triple tries heading into the 8-minute media time out. The deficit could have been much worse as the Sun Devils only converted on 4-of-9 attempts.
Additionally, the Knights were facing major foul problems, as Riley Kugel, Jamichael Stillwell, and Devan Cambridge all had four fouls and Bol, the only true center for UCF with Jeremy Foumena missing his second straight game with an ankle injury, saddle with three fouls.
But as has become their way, the Black and Gold turned up the defensive pressure and they found their shooter’s touch at the perfect time, as Chris Johnson made a ‘three’ that keyed a barrage of three-straight made threes, as Kugel and Johnson again, also converted during a 9-2 run over a one-minute stretch to cut the deficit down to five, 72-67, forcing an Arizona State timeout with 4:28 left on the clock.
The Knights did not let off the pedal coming out of the timeout, scoring the next five points to knot the game at 72-72 with 2:39 remaining on a turnaround jumper and two free throws from Themus Fulks and a Kugel charity toss.
After Sun Devils regained the lead, Carmelo Pacheco dotted a corner three to give the Knights a one-point lead with 1:11 remaining. That was the Black and Gold’s first lead since the score was 22-18 with 7-minutes left in the first half.
ASU converted a pair of free throws with 49 seconds left to go up one, 76-75, but that would be the visitors’ last lead and last points of the contest. Reminiscent of the Kansas game, a drive by Kugel was stopped in the paint, but he was able to find Burks, who nailed a three from the left wing to give the Black and Gold a two-point lead with 34 seconds remaining.
Seconds later, Burks came up big on defense as well, racing back and knocking away a log pass and Stillwell recovered the loose ball and shuffled it to Fulks, who was fouled with 11 seconds left.
Fulks couldn’t seal the victory however, making the second of two free throws to make the lead three, and forcing the Knights to make one more defensive stop, with a game-tying attempt hitting the front of the rim and bounding away.
Four Knights finished in double-figures, each making a unique impact on the game. Kugel finished with a 17-point, nine-rebound, and five-assist outing for a stellar all-around performance. Stillwell grabbed nine rebounds of his own while also chipping in 14 points. Fulks, with five assists in the second half, found his teammates during critical moments, assisting on the three made buckets during the late 9-2 run, while also contributing 12 points of his own. In addition to hitting his second game-winning 3-pointer, Burks also had 15 points and five rebounds to go along with three steals in the second half to officially propel the Knights to victory. Bol finished with a game-high 10 rebounds.
Up Next:
The Black and Gold will remain at Addition Financial Arena this Saturday at noon for the first Space Game of the season against No. 11 Texas Tech. The game will be televised on ESPN2 and will also be on the radio at 96.9 (FM) The Game.
Here is the box scores:
Tuesday, January 27, 2026
at Addition Financial Arena
UCF 79, Arizona State 76
Arizona State (11-10, 2-6 Big 12)
Maurice Odum 5-13 5-6 18, Bryce Ford 4-10 0-0 11, Santiago Trouet 4-7 0-0 8, Massamba Diop 3-6 2-4 8, Andrija Grbovic 2-2 1-2 7, Anthony Johnson 4-8 2-2 12, Allen Mukeba 4-5 1-3 9, Noah Meeusen 0-4 3-3 3. Totals _ 26-55 14-20 76.
UCF (16-4, 5-3 Big 12)
Riley Kugel 6-10 4-6 17, Jordan Burks 6-11 2-2 15, Jamichael Stillwell 6-12 1-1 14, Themus Fulks 3-12 6-8 12, John Bol 3-3 0-0 6, Chris Johnson 3-5 0-0 8, Carmelo Pacheco 2-6 0-0 6, Devan Cambridge 0-6 1-2 1. Totals _ 29-65 14-19 79.
Halftime Score _ ASU 39, UCF 35. 3-point Field Goals _ ASU 10-23 (Odum 3-8, Ford 3-6, Johnson 2-3, Grbovic 2-2, Meeusen 0-2, Trouet 0-1, Diop 0-1); UCF 7-22 (Pacheco 2-6, Johnson 2-3, Kugel 1-4, Burks 1-3, Stillwell 1-3, Cambridge 0-3). Team Fouls _ ASU 18; UCF 21. Fouled Out _ ASU (Odum). Technical Fouls _ none. Rebounds _ ASU 28 (Diop 6, Johnson 5); UCF 40 (Bol 10, Stillwell, Kugel 9 each, Burks 5). Turnovers _ ASU 10; UCF 9. Assists _ ASU 13 (Odum 6, Ford, Meeusen 2 each); UCF 16 (Fulks 6, Kugel 5, Johnson 2). Steals _ ASU 6 (Diop, Johnson 2 each); UCF 7 (Burks 3, Stillwell 2). Blocked Shots _ ASU 5 (Diop 4); UCF 2 (Burks, Cambridge).
