ORLANDO — As the final buzzer rang out in Addition Financial Arena on Saturday, the UCF Knights’ court became a mob scene as students rushed to the logo to share in the team’s jubilation after the Knights beat the No. 17 Kansas Jayhawks, 81-75.
It had been nearly two years since UCF last triumphed over one of college basketball’s most storied programs, but the Knights made the most of every opportunity and executed enough of their game plan to come out on top.
“We beat a good basketball team tonight,”
UCF coach Johnny Dawkins said. “The tradition, the coaching, the players they have; just really proud of our players for playing for 40 minutes. They showed a lot of heart throughout the game because Kansas is a team that’s terrific.”
The Knights entered the contest as underdogs. Nearly a year prior, Kansas vanquished UCF in Addition Financial Arena by a score of 99-48. The Knights would fall to Kansas two more times in much closer contests during the 2024-25 season, and the Jayhawks entered Saturday’s game with star freshman Darryn Peterson, who had 23 of his team’s 41 first half points.
The Knights weathered what Peterson threw at them and allowed no other Jayhawk to reach double figures in the first 20 minutes of play. Meanwhile, Themus Fulks and Riley Kugel produced a balanced attack for UCF as each had 12 points on 5-for-8 shooting to give their team a 44-41 lead at the break.
After the game, Fulks made it clear that one player could not beat them.
“Darryn Peterson is a really good player,” he said. “He deserved all the praise he’s getting, but we just didn’t think one player could just beat us. It’s a team game. I don’t feel like he was making his teammates better.”
In the second half, Peterson was limited to just five minutes due to dealing with injury struggles that have continued to plague him this season. UCF jumped on the opportunity his absence presented and allowed only Melvin Council Jr. to score in double figures for the Jayhawks in the second half.
Meanwhile, eight of the 10 players who stepped on the floor for the Knights in the second half scored while forcing Kansas to turn the ball over and commit fouls. Kugel led the way for UCF with 19 points.
“I feel like Riley was locked in,” Knights forward Jamichael Stillwell said. “You know, the whole week we kind of been on him and practiced by some little things, but like, I feel like he took it in. He didn’t take it personal, you know.”
“He knew we loved him and we was trying to make him better, make the team better. And I feel like today he showed up and showed that he listened.”
With 4:59 remaining in the game, UCF owned a nine-point lead that it would end up squandering as the two squads ended up tied at 70 with just over three minutes remaining. Yet, the Knights did not waver. Instead, they buried Kansas with a Riley Kugel three-point play and a pair of Devan Cambridge free throws in the waning seconds as the crowd erupted with deafening cheers and applause.
“I thought we finished strong at the end of the game when Kansas made a really good run to tie the ball game up,” Dawkins added. “I thought we finished strong, and those are things we were talking about as a team prior to us going away for Christmas break, how we have to play in conference.”
“I thought it reflected today in how we finished the game.”
At 12-1, UCF is off to its best start in program history, and a win against the Jayhawks creates a momentous surge moving forward. However, the Knights are not losing sight of the challenges ahead.
“This game,” Stillwell said. “This game is over with now. So, we on to the next. It’s all about going 1-0. We can’t just keep this game over our head, you know. We got Oklahoma State, we got other games after that, so it’s all about the next play going on and on.”
