The UCF men’s basketball team bounced back from its first loss of the season with a 84-72 win over High Point University on Friday night at the UCF Arena.
High Point came into the game and tried to use the same zone defense strategy that Florida State used to beat the Knights, but UCF (2-1) learned how to attack the zone after the loss to the Seminoles. Also, the Panthers (1-2) lack the size and length that FSU utilized against UCF.
“I thought we did a good job executing. Sixteen assists, six turnovers tonight playing against a very good team,” UCF head coach Donnie Jones said.
By attacking the zone, UCF got more open three-point shots from kick-outs, and they also got to the free-throw line more often, making 24-of-30 free throws.
“We attacked that zone inside-out, which is very important, instead of what we did against Florida State, taking 31 threes without any penetration,” Jones said. “Tonight, I was proud that we went to the line and focused. Missing free-throws is just a focus thing, and we were 24-of-30 from the line tonight, which was huge for us.”
Junior guard Marcus Jordan filled the point guard spot that’s been vacant with the suspension of senior A.J. Rompza, and he finished with 21 points and four assists to lead all scorers.
Forward Keith Clanton was able to be more aggressive tonight and stayed out of foul trouble. Clanton came up big, contributing 20 points on seven-of-18 shooting and grabbed a career-high 15 rebounds.
“My mindset was just come out and play aggressive, because I feel like at Florida State in the second half, I didn’t play aggressive and coach talked to me about that. He just wanted me to play aggressive and rebound the ball,” Clanton said.
In the first half, it looked as if the Knights were playing the exact same way as they did against Florida State, settling for 11 three-pointers, making only two of them. The Knights held onto a 36-31 lead at halftime due to a spark off the bench from transfer Josh Crittle, who played in his first game as a Knight after missing the first two games for violating team policies.
The Oregon-transfer forward posted 10 points and five boards in 14 minutes.
At halftime, Jones addressed the team and told them to stop settling for long-distance shots against an undersized High Point team. In the second half, shots started falling, and the guards started attacking the basket more, leading to more open shots and free-throws.
Jordan led the charge by driving into the paint for closer shots, ultimately drawing more fouls.
“We settled for a lot of threes in the first half, and I think that zones have been doing that to us, so I think we’ve been settling a lot and coach talked about it at half,” Jordan said. “I just wanted to take it upon myself to be aggressive and get into the paint, draw a couple fouls and get my teammates going.”
The Knights are happy to rebound like this after suffering their first loss Monday, especially after how they lost seven games in a row after their first loss last season.
On Thanksgiving weekend, UCF will travel to the Bahamas to compete in the Battle for Atlantis. The Knights first game of the tournament will be against the College of Charleston at 2 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day. The game is scheduled to be televised on the VERSUS TV network.
