The UCF Men’s Basketball team nearly squandered a late lead, but free throws by Keith Clanton and sound defense helped the Knights (7-2) secure a 77-65 victory over North Carolina A&T Tuesday night at the UCF Arena.
After the Knights held a double-digit lead for most of the second half, the Aggies (4-6) were able to pull within six points at 66-60 with 4:45 left in regulation, however UCF used the momentum from an explosive Isaiah Sykes dunk to ultimately prevail in the game.
Like Us For UCF News Updates on Facebook: “We’re happy for the win… We had a little stretch there where we let them back in the game, and that three-point line is a very dangerous thing,” head coach Donnie Jones said. “I’m happy for the victory, I wasn’t happy with the way it ended for us, but we gotta continue when we get those leads- we got it to 19 and then we let them back in the game- we gotta continue to build on that.”
UCF won its third straight game and improved to a perfect 16-0 at home against non-conference opponents since Donnie Jones has taken over as head coach. The Knights are 22-3 overall under Jones versus non-conference foes.
Marcus Jordan tied a career-high with 28 points to lead all scorers, including 17 points in the first half to pace the Knights. Jordan converted on five three-pointers, to go along with three assists, two steals and one rebound in the game.
UCF got off to a slow start early in the first half, struggling to score and grab rebounds. However, the Knights were ignited by a 22-4 run with 7:10 left in the opening half that allowed them to take a 39-26 advantage into halftime.
From there, the Knights cruised for most of the second half, maintaining a double-digit lead thanks to strong shooting and aggressive defense.
UCF shot 46 percent from the field in the game, but was much more efficeint in the second half, going 13-for-22 (59 percent) from the floor, including 36 percent from the three-point line.
Despite the improvement in the second half, UCF allowed the Aggies to get back in the game with costly turnovers and some late three-pointers. The Knights committed 18 turnovers in the contest, and they allowed N.C. A&T to score 16 points off those turnovers.
Still, the Knights remained poised and took advantage of an undersized opponent by consistently getting inside the paint and drawing fouls. UCF went 18-of-28 from the charity stripe, including a pair of Clanton free throws with under a minute left to seal the win.
Clanton had a strong game with 13 points and seven rebounds, while P.J. Gaynor came off the bench to post 11 points and seven rebounds in 25 minutes for the Knights.
Isaiah Sykes continued his recent strong play, contributing 10 points, eight boards, five assists and four steals for another all-around game by the highly-improved sophomore guard.
Sykes is now averaging 15.7 points and 7.7 rebounds in his last three games- all wins for the Knights.
“He gets his points the way he usually gets them- toughness plays and hustle plays,” Coach Jones said. “He had a couple of nice offensive rebounds when we needed them and put backs. He’s going to rebound the ball and be the tough guy. He’s giving that to us every night, which is what we need.”
In one of the more interesting plays of the game, the Jordan brothers were able to hit back-to-back three pointers off of passes from each other. With the Knights down 21-18 midway through the first half, Jeff Jordan found his brother at the top of the key for a three-pointer to tie the game.
Then, on the very next offensive play, Marcus returned the favor, feeding his brother Jeff for a wide-open three that gave UCF a 24-21 lead.
“It’s pretty cool. We did it a lot in high school,” Marcus Jordan said. “To finally do it for the first time in a UCF jersey is really cool…It’s definitely fun playing with him.”
Jeff Jordan had his best game in a UCF jersey, posting nine points on 75 percent shooting, while also chipping in six assists.
Overall, the Knights played a solid game, but will need to work on not giving up leads late in games, especially as they approach the bulk of their schedule.
Next up for UCF is a home contest against Old Dominion, who has made the NCAA Tournament three times in the last five years, including a first-round exit against Butler, who lost to UConn in the championship game last season.
The Knights will take on the Monarchs this Saturday at 5 p.m.
