Despite playing extremely shorthanded, the UCF basketball team put away a pesky Saint Thomas team late to win its season opener, 74-61, Saturday at the UCF Arena.
Junior guard Marcus Jordan, senior forward P.J. Gaynor and Oregon-transfer Josh Crittle all sat out due to violating team rules, while senior point guard A.J. Rompza is still suspended due to NCAA investigations regarding his eligibility.
Even with the suspensions, the Knights won their ninth consecutive season opener. UCF has not dropped a season opener at home since Nov. 19, 1999.
Keith Clanton led the Knights with 18 points on 50 percent shooting, as well as six blocks, five rebounds and two steals in the game.
UCF had trouble getting its offense going throughout the game, but the Knights were able to maintain a small lead for most of the contest and keep the Bobcats at bay with a strong defensive effort.
“Give this team credit- we played a lot of quick, athletic guys. We haven’t seen that kind of pressure,” head coach Donnie Jones said. “We’ve worked all year with A.J. Rompza and Marcus Jordan handling the basketball. Now, we’re asking 6’6″, 6’7″ guys to go out and bring the ball up.”
The Knights took a 22-9 lead in the beginning of the first half, only to have Saint Thomas storm back on an 8-0 run.
The Knights took a 37-28 lead at halftime, led by Rod Days 12 points.
UCF had 10 first half turnovers and missed 11 free throws, which allowed the Bobcats to stay in the game.
Saint Thomas guard Jeffrey Remmington led all scorers at half with 13 points. He finished the game with 15 points to lead the Bobcats.
The Knights were noticeably being effected by their lack of guards, as Isaiah Sykes and Jeff Jordan were forced to play all the minutes at the point position.
The Bobcats took advantage of the lack of depth by constantly full court pressing UCF in the game, which resulted in Clanton, Days and Tristan Spurlock all taking turns bringing the ball up the court when Sykes or Jordan would get stuck behind the half court line.
“We knew they were pressuring us. They were denying the point guard from getting the ball and our point, which is really our small forward, didn’t feel comfortable against the 5’9″ guy guarding him. So we just let Keith bring the ball up against their big guys, who weren’t pressuring,” Coach Jones said.
With the Knights missing four key players, they were able to utilize some of the new faces on the team, including transfers and freshmen.
Virginia transfer Tristan Spurlock, freshmen Rod Days, Wayne Martin and Kasey Williams, as well as Illinois transfer Jeff Jordan all saw their first minutes in a UCF uniform Saturday night.
“It felt good. I know I still got some rust to get off and a couple things I need to work on. But it felt good to get out and finally play and get up and down, and run,” Spurlock said.
Spurlock, who hasn’t played in over a year, finished with 12 points, seven rebounds, two steals and two blocks in 37 minutes of playing time.
The freshman trio of Days, Martin and Wilson combined for 18 points and eight boards. Days led the pack with a very promising performance, posting 14 points, five rebounds and two steals in 31 minutes.
Jordan finished with three points.
Despite some strong individual performances, the Knights didn’t have an overall efficient team performance in their season debut.
UCF finished with 20 turnovers in the game, but was able to force 22 Saint Thomas turnovers.
The Knights were also plagued by poor free throw shooting, finishing 26-for-47 (55.3%) from the charity stripe. They also shot four-of-17 (23.5%) from the three-point line in the game. Overall, the Knights shot 50 percent from the field.
“I’m just happy for the victory. Give St. Thomas credit- they were competitive, very physical,” Coach Jones said. “It goes to show you the importance of guards. I think our guys found a way to win. We had a lot of free throws. We just got to make shots. We didnt do a very good job at the free throw line. But, it’s much better to win ugly.”
Despite the somewhat sloppy performance, UCF’s defense was solid, limiting Saint Thomas to 43 percent shooting from the field (26-of-61) and 38 percent from beyond the arc.
Now, the Knights get an early season test, travelling to Tallahassee to play Florida State, who advanced to the Sweet 16 in last year’s NCAA tournament. UCF will have less than 48 hours to prepare for the game.
“Anytime you play a team like Florida State, a Sweet 16 team- they’re well coached and very athletic- anytime you play on the road it’s tough,” Coach Jones said. “It’s always tough to play on the road. This will be a great early challenge for our team to go in a tough atmosphere with a great team like Florida State.”
The Knights will play the Seminoles Monday at 7 p.m., looking for a big early-season victory.
