Same result, same story for the UCF men’s basketball team.
The Knights trailed by as many as 13 in the second half to UAB and cut the lead to as little as four late, but costly turnovers hurt the Knights and UAB hit their free throws as the Blazers claimed a 63-58 win on Saturday night.
UCF trailed by nine points with 44 seconds remaining, but a Marcus Jordan jumper and an A.J. Rompza 3-pointer late cut the lead to three with eight seconds left, but UAB knocked down their free throws to close out the game.
UCF continued to stay in the game down the stretch.
The Blazers led by as a many as 10 in the second half, but the Knights continued to chip away at the free throw line. Two Clanton free throws with 8:28 remaining pulled the Knights to within seven at 40-33. A possession later for UCF, Rompza knocked down a 3-pointer to bring the Knights to within six.
Rompza’s energy was key late in the game as he knocked down two free throws with 6:42 remaining to cut the UAB lead to four.
The Knights struggled to find the bottom of the net in the first half.
UCF shot 23.1 percent from the field and made just six field goals, as they trailed 30-20 at the break. Jordan scored just six points at the half to lead the Knights. He was the only player on the roster to make more than one field goal in the opening half.
The Blazers opened the game on a 10-3 run, capped off by a Aaron Johnson 3-pointer with 15:57 left till the break. Jordan had two turnovers during that span. UCF then went on a run of it’s own, reeling off 10 unanswered points sparked by back-to-back 3-pointers from Jordan and A.J. Rompza, that gave the Knights a 13-10 lead.
UCF then went almost seven minutes without a field goal as the Blazers reeled off 10 straight points to take a 23-13 lead with 5:56 remaining, which eventually led to the 10-point lead at the break.
