The UCF men’s basketball team was having flashbacks in Saturday’s game against Tulsa.
“I was having flashbacks in my head,” Marcus Jordan said. “Please don’t go in”
Well, Scottie Haralson’s last-second three point attempt did not go in, and the UCF Knights snapped their eight-game losing streak and won their first game since Jan. 5 en route to defeating the Tulsa Golden Hurricane, 58-57, on Saturday night before 7,008 fans at the UCF Arena. With the win, the Knights matched their total wins margin (15) of a year ago.
Three days after the Knights (15-8) lost to Memphis on a last-second 3 pointer by Antonio Barton, the Tulsa Golden Hurricane found themselves in an eerily similar position with a chance to down the Knights at the buzzer.
This time, however, it was not meant to be. UCF players, coaches, and fans alike let out a collective sigh of relief as Haralson’s shot rimmed out with two seconds left to end the game and secure a victory for the Knights.
“It was nice for it to finally miss,” UCF head coach Donnie Jones said.
The Knights’ victory tonight ended their eight-game losing streak, all to Conference USA foes, which saw their overall record drop to 14-8 after an undefeated non-conference slate. Coach Jones commented that he is “Tired of streaks” and he is ready to “Focus on one game at a time.”
UCF was keyed by Marcus Jordan and Keith Clanton, who combined to score 31 of the 58 UCF points. Clanton came up big down the stretch, sinking three free throws in the final 1:47 of the game to give UCF its slight edge.
UCF and Tulsa battled until the final seconds in a game where the largest lead was UCF by eight midway through the second half. The Knights played steller defense, holding the Golden Hurricane to 35 percent shooting from the field. Justin Hurtt starred for the Tulsa attack scoring 23 points.
UCF will try to secure it’s first conference road victory February 16th against Tulane.
