UCF came out firing on all levels against the East Carolina Pirates Saturday evening.
“We talk about just playing the right way,” said UCF Head Coach Donnie Jones. “Playing together at a level that we expect from each other and I think in the first-half that finally came together.”
UCF scored a season high 60 points in the first-half, knocked down eight three-point field goals and took a 28-point lead going into halftime.
The Knights’ relentless play in the first half against ECU and their ability to maintain a significant lead throughout the game shows the team’s growth and drive.
“We’re just trying to make sure as we go on in conference we take it to a different level and prepare for every game like we really want to win,” said red-shirt sophomore forward A.J Davis. “We just been really focused lately in trying to get the job done and it showed. We’ve been preparing a lot better from our bigs to our guards knocking down shots… we were all just ready for the game.”
The Knights played against ECU like they had something to prove and UCF center, Justin McBride says the team is playing with a chip on their shoulder.
“We were picked like ninth in our league,” said McBride. ”That’s disrespectful, so what you do is you don’t talk about it, you don’t whine about it. You go to work every day and you clock-in, and you show people and that’s what we’re trying to do right now.”
UCF is tied for second with Houston in the AAC with a 3-1 conference record. Overall the Knights are 9-6 midway through the college basketball season.
“We can really go as far as we make up in our mind we want to go,” said McBride.
Photo courtesy of UCF Athletics Communications
