Sophomore guard Isaiah Sykes was named Tournament MVP after leading the UCF Men’s Basketball team to a 65-54 victory over Rhode Island to claim the UCF Holiday Classic Championship trophy Friday night at the UCF Arena.
Sykes finished the contest with 14 points and five assists. The Knights (10-3) have now won their Holiday Classic five times and hold an overall record of 13-3 in the tournament.
Friday’s game against Rhode Island (2-12) was the first time this season that the Knights had its full roster of players suited up. Senior point guard A.J. Rompza returned to the team after missing the first 12 games due to an NCAA enforced suspension. With the full roster available, players were able to get back to playing their normal positions on the floor.
“Everybody’s feeling more comfortable playing in their positions,” Sykes said. “It’s much easier. [Rompza] does a great job of finding us and talking to us and running through the plays.”
In his return to the team, Rompza finished the game with seven points on three-for-nine shooting. He also dished out seven assists, which moved him past Al Miller for the program’s third-highest career-assist total.
Junior forward Tristan Spurlock came off the bench and had a solid game at small forward alongside Rompza and Jordan. He finished with nine points and four rebounds.
“I think we’re all getting back to our positions and our roles on the team are getting more defined as the second half of the season goes on,” Spurlock said. “I feel more comfortable. Coach just wants me to be more aggressive, especially coming off the bench like that.”
Marcus Jordan, who finished with 12 points and five rebounds, was named to the All-Tournament team to represent the Knights.
The Rams were paced by freshman guard Mike Powell, who led all scorers 21 points and was also named to the all-tournament team.
The Knights will start Conference-USA play on Jan. 4 at the UCF Arena against Tulane.
Last season, the Knights lost their first eight conference games and finished the season 21-12 after starting 14-0. UCF will be looking to improve from last year’s 5-11 conference record.
UCF head coach Donnie Jones is suspended for the first three league games due to NCAA violations, but he is confident that his team will be fine without him on the bench.
“I know I’m not going to be in there for the start of this, but we respect the decision that Dr. Hitt made,” Jones said. “We’ve got a great staff here and great assistants that know what’s expected. We will continue to grow from this.”
