The No.24 SMU Mustangs (23-6, 12-4) men’s basketball team continued their undefeated home streak on Saturday, handling the Knights (11-16, 3-12) 70-55.
The Knights got behind 18-4 early and despite a late first half effort to get them within four, UCF could not overcome the Mustangs strong start. The Mustangs extended their lead to 11-points heading into the half thanks to the stellar play of Markus Kennedy who finished with 18 points.
The Mustangs started the second half strong as well, a pair of three-pointers from Nic Moore pushed the Mustang’s lead to 18 points early in the second half. However, the Knights once again went on a run to cut the Mustangs’ lead to single digits with a little more than six minutes remaining. The Mustangs responded with strong free throw shooting to keep the lead intact.
Isaiah Sykes led the way for the Knights with 18 points and five rebounds, Kasey Wilson was the only other Knight who had double-digit scoring with 11 points. The Knights shot just 4-19 from the three point line and 37.5% field goal shooting for the game.
The Knights have a couple of days to rest up before they travel to Temple to take on the Owls, the only team below them in the American conference standings.
