UCF Men’s Basketball pummeled Florida A&M at home Tuesday in a 97-60 victory.
The 37-point victory was UCF’s (1-2) largest win since defeating Bethune-Cookman by 41 back in December of 2023. 12 total players
scored a basket for head coach Johnny Dawkins, something he said is rewarding for his team.
“Everybody works so hard in the summer, the fall and they have an opportunity to get out there to contribute and you know, no matter what everyone wants to see the ball go in at some point in time when you play this sport,” Dawkins said. “And so to see 12 guys have an opportunity to make shots and contribute in that way it’s good, it’s good for your team morale so everyone feels a sense of I contributed.”
It was an offensive explosion for the Knights in this one. UCF scored season highs in both team points with 92 and three pointers made with 13 total. Junior guard Carmelo Pacheco was the leading scorer on the night with 17 points and put through five threes on just six attempts.
“I give all the credit to my teammates,” Pacheco said. “Everyday they’re encouraging me to keep shooting and I was just ready for my moment and they were finding me tonight and I was just knocking them down.”
The Knights dominated the whole way, securing the lead in the first minute of the game and not relinquishing it once. UCF forced Florida A&M into tough shots early, resulting in just 20 first points on 29% shooting from the field.
Increased emphasis on defense was something Dawkins communicated to his players after allowing 10 first half threes and over 100 total points to Vanderbilt in the Knights’ previous game.
“Our focus tonight was defense, we were trying to keep them under 50,” Senior Forward DevanCambridge said. “We didn’t do that but our focus was defensively today better communication and it was a lot better today you know we were finally open to man, playing together hunting for each other and yeah it definitely helps. But you know we got a tough one coming up on Friday so we’re going to prepare for that.”
UCF will hit the road for its first regular season game away from home this Friday against Texas A&M at 8:00 p.m.
