The UCF men’s basketball team took another giant step toward solidifying its NCAA Tournament resume Tuesday night.
Playing without top scorer Riley Kugel for the second straight game, the Knights never trailed in a 97-84 victory over No. 19/23 BYU at the Marriott Center, pushing their winning streak to three games and securing their third ranked win of the season. The victory also marked the fifth ranked road win of the Johnny Dawkins era.
With the win, UCF (20-7, 9-6 Big 12) secured back-to-back 20-win seasons under Dawkins, while snapping BYU's (20-8, 8-7) 16-game win streak at home against unranked opponents. The 13-point victory also marked UCF's largest road win against an AP ranked opponent in program history.
"I thought the guys were really dialed in and I'm proud of the effort that they gave for the full 40 minutes,” said Dawkins. “This is a very, very difficult place to play in, to win in. I thought our guys held their composure and played really well throughout most of the game... we just wanted to continue to play for each other and defend, that's our calling card.”
The Knights set the tone early. After a steal by Chris Johnson, Themus Fulks converted a layup to open the scoring. Jamichael Stillwell followed with a three-pointer, and Johnson added another from beyond the arc as UCF jumped out to a 9-0 lead and forced a BYU timeout just over three minutes into the game.
Jordan Burks extended the run with a three-pointer and later knocked down back-to-back triples to push the Knights’ advantage to double digits. BYU opened zero-for-three from long range before responding with a brief 6-0 run, but the Knights continued to answer.
Carmelo Pacheco’s 3-pointer made it 30-18, and Fulks buried a pair of three's late in the half to stretch the margin to 45-25. UCF finished the first half 11 of 18 from beyond the arc at 68.8%, its best first-half three-point percentage of the season and the most triples it has made in a first half this year.
The Knights led 52-28 at the break, delivering their highest-scoring half of the season and handing BYU its largest halftime deficit in four years. The 52 points were one shy of the highest-scoring half in the Dawkins era dating back to 53 against Mississippi State on Nov. 17, 2016.
Fulks led UCF with 14 first-half points. Burks added 11, going three of four from deep, while Stillwell contributed five points, five rebounds and five assists while shooting three-for-three from the field.
UCF opened the second half with a 12-0 run, highlighted by a dunk from John Bol, that gave the Knights their biggest lead of game, 36 points, 64-28 with 16:31 left. Back-to-back three-pointers from George Beale pushed the lead to 70-35 with just under 14 minutes remaining.
Burks later connected on a triple assisted by Fulks, giving Fulks his 184th assist of the season and breaking the program’s single-season record of 183 set by Sinua Phillips in 1991-92.
A desperate BYU, playing in front of over 18,000 fans, took advantage of hot shooting, turnovers and UCF fouls to close the game on a 49-27 run, but the Cougars would get no closer than the final score.
Burks finished with a career-high 24 points on 9-of-12 shooting. Fulks matched him with 24 points and added 11 assists for his fourth double-double of the season.
Stillwell also had a huge all-around game with 12 points, 12 rebounds and six assists before leaving the game with an injured ankle with 4:50 left in the contest.
Beale was also in double figures with 10 points in 11 minutes of action.
The trip to the Beehive State started last Saturday evening, and with the game hanging in the balance inside the Jon M. Huntsman Center, Fulks stepped to the free-throw line with the score tied at 71 and just 3-seconds showing on the clock.
In a contest that featured 16 lead changes and no team ever holding a double-digit advantage, it all came down to Fulks. Calm and composed, he sank back-to-back free throws, sealing a 73‑71 victory for UCF over the Utah Utes (10-17, 2-12).
Despite rolling out a new starting lineup with Kugel absent, the Knights scored on their first two possessions to take an early 4-0 lead. But, Utah would maintain a narrow edge for much of the opening half, clinging to a razor-thin, 24-23, lead by the eight-minute media timeout.
Out of the break, the guests tightened up defensively, holding the Utes scoreless for nearly three minutes, while generating a 12-2 run to give the Black and Gold a 33-26 advantage with 3:58 to play in the opening frame.
Not letting the surge go unanswered for long, Utah burst out on a 6-0 run to cut the deficit before the half, but a final shot from Fulks sent the Knights into the locker room with a five-point edge, 41-36.
Throughout the second half, UCF kept its advantage primarily through defensive pressure, forcing eight turnovers that translated into 18 points, which allowed them to rebuild a seven‑point lead on two separate occasions. However, Utah refused to go away, and by the 7:58 mark, the Utes had strung together an unanswered 10‑point run to reclaim the lead, 62-59.
The final minutes became a tug‑of‑war, each side trading blows as the clock ticked down, fighting to take a decisive lead. When Burks buried a clutch three, it looked like the Knights had finally delivered the final blow, going up 71-68 with just 31 seconds left. But a costly defensive foul opened the door for Utah, and the Utes capitalized at the line to knot the game at 71.
But just when overtime looked indefinite, a shooting foul sent Fulks to the line with just 13 seconds in regulation, and the senior responded to give UCF the win in Salt Lake City.
Up Next:
The Knights return to Addition Financial Arena for their final two home games of the season, hosting Baylor on Saturday at 8 p.m. on FS1 and Oklahoma State next Tuesday at 7 p.m. on ESPN+. Both games will also be on the radio at 96.9 (FM) The Game.
Here are the box scores:
Saturday, February 21, 2026
At Jon M. Huntsman Center, Salt Lake City, Utah
UCF 73, Utah 71
UCF (19-7, 8-6 Big 12)
Themus Fulks 11-24 2-2 24, Jordan Burks 5-11 2-4 14, Chris Johnson 3-4 0-0 8, Jamichael Stillwell 3-3 0-0 6, John Bol 2-3 0-1 4, Devan Cambridge 3-4 0-0 7, Carmelo Pacheco 2-2 0-0 6, George Beale Jr. 0-5 2-2 2, Jeremy Foumena 1-1 0-0 2, Kris Parker 0-0 0-0 0. Totals _ 30-57 6-9 73.
Utah (10-17, 2-12 Big 12)
Terrence Brown 9-15 2-2 21, Don McHenry 6-12 3-3 19, Keanu Dawes 6-9 0-0 15, James Okonkwo 2-4 0-0 4, Seydou Traore 1-8 0-0 2, Josh Hayes 2-2 0-0 4, Kendyl Sanders 2-7 0-0 4, Obomate Abbey 0-0 2-2 2. Totals _ 28-57 7-7 71.
Halftime Score _ UCF 41, Utah 36. 3-point Field Goals _ UCF 7-16 (Burks 2-5, Johnson 2-3, Pacheco 2-2, Cambridge 1-2, Beale 0-3, Fulks 0-1); Utah 8-23 (McHenry 4-9, Dawes 3-4, Brown 1-3, Traore 0-4, Sanders 0-3). Team Fouls _ UCF 11; Utah 10. Fouled Out _ none. Technical Fouls _ Utah (Traore). Rebounds _ UCF 28 (Bol 6, Stillwell 5); Utah 29 (Dawes 12, Okonkwo 5). Turnovers _ UCF 9; Utah 11. Assists _ UCF 15 (Johnson 5, Fulks, Stillwell 4 each); Utah 18 (Brown 4, McHenry, Dawes, Abbey, Traore 3 each). Steals _ UCF 8 (Burks 4); Utah 2 (Okonkwo, Traore). Blocked Shots _ UCF 4 (Bol 2); Utah 4 (Okonkwo, Hayes, Dawes, Traore).
Tuesday, February 24, 2026
at Marriott Center, Provo, Utah
UCF 97, BYU 84
UCF (20-7, 9-6 Big 12)
Themus Fulks 10-21 2-3 24, Jordan Burks 9-12 2-4 24, Jamichael Stillwell 4-6 3-3 12, Chris Johnson 3-6 0-0 9, John Bol 4-5 0-0 8, George Beale Jr. 3-5 2-2 10, Carmelo Pacheco 2-4 0-0 6, Devan Cambridge 0-2 2-2 2, Jeremy Foumena 1-3 0-0 2, Kris Parker 0-0 0-0 0. Totals _ 36-64 11-14 97.
BYU (20-8, 8-7 Big 12)
AJ Dybantsa 11-22 5-6 29, Robert Wright III 7-21 5-6 20, Kennard Davis Jr. 3-9 1-2 8, Mihailo Boskovic 1-3 2-2 4, Keba Keita 1-2 0-0 2, Aleksej Kostić 5-12 0-0 14, Tyler Mrus 1-1 4-4 7, Khadim Mboup 0-0 0-0 0, Dominique Diomande 0-1 0-0 0, Abdullah Ahmed 0-0 0-0 0. Totals _ 29-71 17-20 84.
Halftime Score _ UCF 52, BYU 28. 3-point Field Goals _ UCF 14-24 (Burks 4-7, Johnson 3-6, Pacheco 2-4, Fulks 2-3, Beale 2-3, Stillwell 1-1); BYU 9-27 (Kostić 4-9, Dybantsa 2-4, Wright 1-6, Davis 1-5, Mrus 1-1, Boskovic 0-2). Team Fouls _ UCF 17; BYU 14. Fouled Out _ none. Technical Fouls _ UCF (Burks); BYU (Diomande). Rebounds _ UCF 40 (Stillwell 12, Burks, Bol 6 each); BYU 34 (Dybantsa 8, Davis 5, Wright 4). Turnovers _ UCF 15; BYU 9. Assists _ UCF 25 (Fulks 11, Stillwell 6, Johnson 4); BYU 11 (Wright 7, Mrus 2). Steals _ UCF 5 (Burks 2); BYU 6 (Kostic 2). Blocked Shots _ UCF 2 (Burks, Johnson); BYU 5 (Mrus, Ahmed 2 each).
