In a performance that shocked the college basketball world late Tuesday night, the UCF Knights led wire-to-wire and led by as much as 36, defeating the #19 BYU Cougars 97-84 at the Marriott Center in Provo.
With the win, UCF improved to 20-7 overall and 9-6 in the Big 12 on the season. The victory also marked the third time in the Johnny Dawkins era that UCF has won at least 20 games in a season.
It was the Knights’ second win in a crucial two-game road trip to the Beehive State. The first game resulted
in a 73-71 nail-biting win against the Utah Utes in Salt Lake City this past Saturday night. After two days off, it was time to head down South on I-15 to Provo for the matchup against the Cougars, where UCF entered the game as a 14.5-point underdog.
With UCF’s leading scorer, Riley Kugel, out last night, not many people would’ve predicted UCF to upset BYU in a tough college basketball atmosphere. Even with Kugel out, it didn’t bother UCF at all.
UCF jumped out to a hot start, leading by as much as 24 points in the first half. UCF made 11 3-pointers to help take a 52-28 halftime lead. UCF’s 52 points were the highest point total for a first half all season. Outside of 33 points from three, UCF scored 18 points in the paint, and JaMichael Stillwell made one free throw. Themus Fulks and Jordan Burks combined for 25 points in the first half.
The momentum carried over into the second half, where UCF extended its lead to 36 points less than 3.5 minutes into the half, which was the largest lead of the game. BYU did cut the deficit down to 15 points with under three minutes to play, but it was too little too late for a comeback win.
Burks and Fulks each led UCF in scoring with 24 points, but Fulks added 11 assists to complete the double-double. Fulks also broke the UCF record for most assists in a single season. Fulks had 11 of UCF’s 25 assists in the game. Stillwell also recorded a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds, but he did get hurt in the game.
Sweeping the Utah road trip has UCF in a solid position to make an NCAA Tournament bid. However, three games remain on the schedule, but earning two road wins in Utah was very crucial to do. Defeating BYU helped give UCF its third top-25 win of the season, and doing it in Provo could add something to it.
UCF will return to action on Saturday night when they host the Baylor Bears at Addition Financial Arena in the team’s final February game. Tip time is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET. Last night, Baylor fell 87-80 against No. 2 Arizona Wildcats at home. Despite being 14-14 overall and 4-11 in the Big 12 this season, Baylor is 2-0 all-time against UCF.
