ORLANDO — In the midst of the euphoric chaos unfolding on the floor around him, senior guard Darius Johnson reflected on the job he and his team accomplished.
“It’s a great experience, but we’re supposed to get that win. We went into the game expecting to win, and nothing less.”
Johnson, in the first game of his fourth season donning the Black and Gold, took up his mantle as their leader, dropping a game-high 24 points, including five 3-pointers, to lead the UCF men’s basketball team to a statement 64-61 opening night upset victory over the No. 13 Texas A&M Aggies at Addition Financial Arena Monday evening.
The winning effort represented the 11th over a ranked opponent in program history, the fourth in the last two years, and the first in three tries in a season-opener.
In the current calendar year alone, the Knights have now toppled four top 25 opponents on their home floor, also besting then-No. 3 Kansas Jan. 10, then-No. 23 Oklahoma Feb. 3, and then-No. 23 Texas Tech Feb. 24. The contest also marked the ninth of UCF’s 11 all-time ranked wins to have been achieved under Dawkins.
A testament to head coach Johnny Dawkins, Monday evening’s feat, the first win by UCF in the first meeting between the two programs, was accomplished with just two returning players who played tonight from the 2023-24 campaign, Johnson and sophomore guard Nils Machowski.
“What an opening game, to play against a team with that type of experience and talent. I thought it was great for our team,” Dawkins said. “You bring in 11 new guys, you don’t know what to expect, and they showed me something today. They can play with composure and the moment wasn’t too big for them. They beat a really good, well-coached team.”
After missing their first eight shots before a Keyshawn Hall dunk got them on the board 4:16 into the game, the Knights gained momentum midway through the first half with a hot hand from beyond the arc (six 3-pointers) and later iced the game from the free throw line (13-of-17 over the final 6:51).
UCF trailed 16-6 with 11:39 left in the half and were still down 25-18 with 6:59 left before closing the opening 20-minutes on a 11-4 run.
Staring up at a 10-point deficit for the fourth time in the game, the Knights, having made just five field goals through the first 10:58 of the second half, made the adjustment against a staunch Aggies defense that led the nation in rebounding and ranked fifth in scoring defense last season.
Down 11 (54-43) with 7:03 left, the Black and Gold used success at the free throw line, more aggression on the backboards and two key blocked shots by sophomore JJ Taylor in the final two minutes to close the game on a 21-7 run, including scoring the final eight points of the contest.
In their respective UCF debuts, Jordan Ivy-Curry (16), Taylor (10) and Hall (10) joined Johnson in double-digit scoring, while freshman Moustapha Thiam, the first five-star recruit and the highest-ranked recruit in program history, made his seven-foot, two-inch, frame felt with six blocks, finishing two shy of the program’s single-game record.
“This was a statement game,” Johnson continued. “Moving forward we want to make people respect us.”
Up Next:
UCF will host Purdue Fort Wayne on Friday. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. from Addition Financial Arena and will be streamed on ESPN+.
Follow the Knights:
Follow UCF men’s basketball on X (@UCF_MBB), Instagram (@UCF.MBB) and Facebook (/UCFMensBasketball).
Here is the box score:
UCF 64, Texas A&M 61
#13/15 Texas A&M (0-1)
Pharrel Payne 6-9 3-5 15, Wade Taylor IV 4-15 1-2 13, Jace Carter 2-6 2-4 7, Solomon Washington 3-10 0-1 6, Hayden Hefner 0-3 0-0 0, Henry Coleman III 2-6 2-2 6, C.J. Wilcher 2-5 0-0 6, Andersson Garcia 2-2 0-0 4, Manny Obaseki 1-3 0-0 2, Rob Dockery 1-4 0-0 2. Totals: 23-63 8-14 61.
UCF (1-0)
Darius Johnson 6-13 7-8 24, Jordan Ivy-Curry 4-12 6-8 16, Keyshawn Hall 3-6 4-7 10, Moustapha Thiam 1-3 0-0 2, Dallan "Deebo" Coleman 0-5 0-0 0, JJ Taylor 2-4 5-8 10, Benny Williams 1-2 0-0 2, Dior Johnson 0-2 0-0 0, Rokas Jocius 0-0 0-0 0, Nils Machowski 0-3 0-0 0. Totals: 17-50 22-31 64.
Halftime _ 29-29. 3-point field goals _ TAM 7-23 (Taylor 4-11, Wilcher 2-5, Carter 1-2, Hefner 0-3, Washington 0-1, Obaseki 0-1); UCF 8-26 (Da. Johnson 5-11, Ivy-Curry 2-7, Taylor 1-1, Coleman 0-3, Machowski 0-2, Hall 0-1, Di. Johnson 0-1). Team fouls _ TAM 24; UCF 17. Fouled out _ TAM (Payne, Garcia); UCF (Hall, Thiam). Technical fouls _ none. Rebounds _ TAM 43 (Washington 9, Payne, Carter, Coleman, Garcia 6 each); UCF 35 (Ivy-Curry 5, Thiam 4). Turnovers _ TAM 12; UCF 11. Assists _ TAM 13 (Taylor 7); UCF 13 (Da. Johnson 5, Ivy-Curry 3). Steals _ TAM 4 (Payne, Taylor, Hefner, Coleman); UCF 19 (Da. Johnson 3, Coleman, Taylor 2 each). Blocked shots _ TAM 3 (Payne, Washington, Garcia); UCF 10 (Thiam 6, Taylor 2).
