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Tag: the knights

  • UCF looks to solidify bubble case vs. West Virginia after pair of losses

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    (Photo credit: Aaron Doster-Imagn Images)

    Two straight losses, including a 92-72 whipping Sunday at Cincinnati, have UCF looking like the ultimate bubble team when it comes to its NCAA Tournament hopes.

    Despite that blowout, the Knights are still on the right side of the bubble, according to most experts, as they prepare for a Saturday night Big 12 home game against West Virginia in Orlando, Fla.

    ‘We’ve just got to keep working,’ UCF coach Johnny Dawkins said. ‘We need to be getting better every day. When you’re in this gauntlet, anything can happen from game to game.’

    This time around, ‘anything’ meant allowing Cincinnati to drain 11 of 18 3-pointers and hit 33 of 56 shots overall, an unusually hot shooting performance for a team that usually struggles to score.

    But the Knights (17-6, 6-5 Big 12) drew a midweek bye, giving them six days to try to fix a defense that has allowed 83.4 ppg in their last seven games. They will also look to get point guard Themus Fulks back on track after he struggled in 19 scoreless minutes at Cincinnati, missing both his shots and committing two turnovers.

    Fulks’ 13.3 points per game are second on the team and his 6.8 assists are 12th in the nation.

    West Virginia (15-9, 6-5) needs to get on a late-season run to earn an NCAA berth. It also had a midweek bye after falling 70-63 at home Sunday against then-No. 13 Texas Tech. The Mountaineers lost that one at the 3-point line, going 2 of 22 while the Red Raiders nailed 13 of 24.

    First-year coach Ross Hodge said the game’s tone was set early when Texas Tech won a string of loose balls that led to baskets.

    ‘I think if you step on the floor legitimately expecting to win the game, you get more loose balls than your opponent,’ he said. ‘That was the ultimate disappointing part of the game to me.’

    Honor Huff is West Virginia’s leading scorer at 15.4 per game, but is coming off a 0-of-8 shooting performance against Texas Tech. He managed six points, all from the foul line.

    –Field Level Media

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  • UCF roars past VMI to extend winning streak

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    (Photo credit: Mike Watters-Imagn Images)

    Jamichael Stillwell produced 21 points, 14 rebounds and five assists as UCF cruised to their sixth straight win Saturday afternoon, hammering the VMI 82-57 in Orlando, Fla.

    A senior transfer from Milwaukee, Stillwell helped the Knights (7-1) shake off a slow start by going 8 of 12 from the field and 5 of 6 from the free-throw line in his third double-double in the past four games.

    Jordan Burks collected 14 points and five rebounds, while Themus Fulks had 11 points, five assists and five rebounds as UCF shot 40.0% and went just 4 of 30 (13.3%) from deep.

    The Knights outscored VMI 54-16 on points in the paint and led by as many as 29.

    Wrapping up a four-game road trip through Florida, the Keydets (3-7) dropped their sixth straight contest and shot 27.9% from the floor.

    Mario Tatum Jr. led VMI with 19 points, all in the first half.

    The visitors started quickly and led 11-5 in just under five minutes behind a 3-pointer by Mason Hagedorn. VMI was 4 of 8 from long range inside the first nine minutes, stretching the advantage to 19-13 on Tatum’s 3-pointer.

    UCF found its stride in the final seven minutes of the half, taking the lead 23-22 on Stillwell’s layup at 7:10 and getting a dunk from Devan Cambridge and a Burks layup to make it 27-22 with 5:57 left.

    UCF raced out on a 28-10 run to finish the half and led 45-32 at the break.

    Stillwell the way for UCF in the first half with 12 points, eight rebounds and two steals as the Knights went made 44.4% from the floor and led 30-13 in rebounding.

    Tatum, a Keydets freshman guard scoring 10.8 points per game, paced the way in the half by netting 19 points on 6-of-9 shooting, including 3 of 4 from 3-point range.

    In the second half, UCF increased to lead to 61-41 with 9:52 remaining on John Bol’s putback and breezed to the 25-point victory.

    –Field Level Media

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  • West Virginia, UCF jousting for first Big 12 victory

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    (Photo credit: Aaron Doster-Imagn Images)

    The start of Big 12 play has not gone well for West Virginia and UCF.

    The Mountaineers and Knights join hapless Oklahoma State as the only schools off to an 0-3 start in conference action. On the plus side, somebody will earn their first Big 12 win Saturday afternoon when West Virginia visits UCF in Orlando, Fla.

    The Mountaineers (2-4, 0-3 Big 12) are on a three-game skid since collecting a 31-24 nonconference home win over Pittsburgh on Sept. 13. During its losses to Kansas, Utah and BYU, West Virginia surrendered 1,436 yards while being outscored 127-48.

    In the first year of Rich Rodriguez’s second coaching stint with the school, the Mountaineers are getting outscored 76-13 in the first half of league games and have not led at any point. In their 38-24 loss Oct. 3 at BYU, redshirt freshman quarterback Khalil Watkins was 7 of 15 for 81 yards in his first career start while freshman Scotty Fox Jr. completed all three of his passes for 54 yards.

    ‘He played hard,’ Rodriguez said of Watkins. ‘I think he’d like to have some plays back, but that was a tough environment to make your first start.’

    The young duo will get more playing time now that Nicco Marchiol (foot) will miss the rest of the season and backup transfer Jaylen Henderson (undisclosed) was ruled as doubtful for Saturday’s game.

    ‘So the two young guys have been taking more reps, which is good for them,’ Rodriguez said. ‘Every rep they can take is going to help with their growth.’

    West Virginia’s 22.3 points per game are second-worst among the 16 Big 12 teams. Wilkins is 10 of 21 for 144 yards while Fox has thrown eight passes and carried the ball 12 times.

    Whoever starts at quarterback may hand off a majority of the snaps as the Mountaineers are fourth in the Big 12 at 206.2 rushing yards per game, which includes 199.3 rushing yards per game in league play.

    While the Mountaineers are coming off blowouts, Central Florida (3-3, 0-3) has been competitive in Big 12 games. After a 14-point loss at Kansas State on Sept. 27, the Knights followed it up with a 27-20 loss to Kansas and last week’s 20-11 loss at Cincinnati.

    Cam Fancher completed 28 of 49 passes for 222 yards last week while rushing for 109 of UCF’s 191 yards and a touchdown. The Knights are averaging 200 yards on the ground.

    UCF took the loss despite holding possession for 39 minutes, 44 seconds and running 90 plays to the Bearcats’ 48. The Knights only got to the red zone once because they sabotaged their possessions by committing 10 penalties.

    During its three-week slide, UCF committed 22 penalties and converted 14 of 46 third downs.

    ‘That’s three weeks in a row where we have shot ourselves in the foot on a lot of drives. And that’s got to get better,’ Knights coach Scott Frost said. ‘The discouraging part is we’re fighting with these guys but not winning. The encouraging part is that the stuff going wrong, we can fix.’

    –Field Level Media

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  • Scott Frost, UCF turn to backup QB vs. scuffling North Carolina A&T

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    (Photo credit: Mike Watters-Imagn Images)

    Central Florida is easing into Scott Frost’s second tenure as its head coach.

    After a shaky opening victory over Jacksonville State, UCF (1-0) has a date with struggling FCS squad North Carolina A&T (0-1) on Saturday night in Orlando, Fla.

    There is uncertainty at quarterback for UCF as opening game starter Cam Fancher, a transfer who started two seasons at Marshall and last year at Florida Atlantic, was injured in the second quarter.

    With Fancher sidelined, Indiana transfer Tayven Jackson completed 17 of 24 passes for 282 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions, leading the Knights to a 17-10 victory.

    On a Thursday radio show, Frost confirmed that Fancher will not play Saturday.

    ‘Cam’s going to be out this week,’ Frost said on SiriusXM’s Dusty and Danny in the Morning. ‘He just kind of landed on his back funny and has some back issues that I think are going to go away fairly soon, but we’re going into the game with Tayven and JB (Jacurri Brown), and that’s fine. Tayven did a great job coming in and replacing him last week and he’s getting another shot this week.’

    Frost credited Jackson for being prepared in his backup role after showing disappointment when he was told that Fancher would start the opener.

    ‘I saw an uptick in him,’ Frost said. ‘If it takes something to get him angry to get him to play the way he played, then I’m going to keep him angry all the time.’

    After Saturday’s game, Frost will have additional time to evaluate Fancher as the Knights have a bye week before hosting Bill Belichick and North Carolina and then embarking on their Big 12 schedule.

    North Carolina A&T, which has yet to win a conference game in 16 tries since joining the Coastal Athletic Association in 2023, is on an 11-game skid.

    The Aggies had a chance to end the streak last Saturday at Tennessee State but Andrew Brown’s late 38-yard field-goal attempt was blocked, resulting in a 24-21 loss.

    The big positive for the Aggies was the play of quarterback Braxton Thomas, who came off the bench to run for a touchdown and throw for another score. Thomas completed 11 of 13 passes for 169 yards without an interception. Thomas did lose a fumble — one of three fumbles the Aggies lost.

    The blocked kick and turnovers were ‘the recipe for getting your butt kicked,’ head coach Shawn Gibbs said after his North Carolina A&T debut.

    –Field Level Media

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