Minus scorer Marcus Jordan for most of Wednesday night’s game, No. 24 UCF was able to slip past UMass, 64-59, to improve to 11-0 and remain undefeated on the season.
Jordan, who was nursing a sore ankle after suffering the injury in the closing minutes against Miami on Saturday, checked into the game for the first time at the 15-minute mark of the second half, but his presence was felt at the end of the game as he nailed five-of-six free throws down the stretch to ice the win for the Knights. Jordan finished with seven points.
Anthony Gurley, who had a game-high 17 points, nailed a 3-pointer with 16.3 seconds left to bring UMass to within 60-57, but two A.J. Rompza free throws with 14 seconds left and Jordan’s shots at the line led the Knights to victory.
The Minutemen shot just 31.8 percent from the floor, including a 2-for-22 chip from beyond the arc.
At 11-0, UCF is off to it’s best start since joining Divison I in the 1984-85 season. The win was UCF’s first out of the state of Florida this season. The Knights joined the Top 25 ranks for the first time in school history this week.
Isaac Sosa, who started his first game of the season, led the Knights with 14 points on 5-of-10 shooting while Keith Clanton chipped in 13 and four blocks in the game.
Out of a Donnie Jones timeout with UCF holding on to the 57-54 lead with 1:16 left in the game, the inbounds went to Tom Herzog and he traveled, giving the Minutemen the ball back with 1:12 left. Putney’s game-tying, 3-pointer rimmed out and the Knights were able to seal the game at the line.
Both teams strugged offensively in the first half. Without Jordan, the Knights weren’t able to find a consisent rhyhm on offense. After getting out to an early 9-4 lead off a Clanton score, UMass rolled off a 13-2 run to take a 17-11 lead with 9:19 left in the half. UCF missed eight shots during the run and turned the ball over four times.
Back-to-back scores by Isaish Sykes and a layup and foul shot by Jarvis Davis gave the Knights a 19-18 lead with 4:35 until the break. Off back-to-back 3-pointers from Clanton and Sosa, the Knights were able to take a 26-25 lead into the break.
UCF will hit the hardcourt again next Wednesday when they take on Furhman at home with tipoff set for 7 p.m.
