“I’m proud of our guys in the way we kept competing, but they had an answer every time. Give them credit. They did what they need to do to come away with the win,” Coach Johnny Dawkins said.
The UCF Knights fell on Wednesday to the Cincinnati Bearcats by a final score of 60-50.
Cincinnati took no time to get hot, and led the contest by double digits just over five minutes into the game.
But the Knights came back just before halftime, going on a 13-4 run to bring the score to within six at halftime.
Tacko Fall contributed immensely to the Knights’ efforts. Fall posted 14 points against the Bearcats, and recorded his tenth career double-double with 11 rebounds.
Despite UCF’s best efforts, they could only come within five points of the red hot Bearcats in the second half, and would fall to the number 11 ranked team 60-50.
Despite the outcome, Dawkins was still impressed with his team’s defensive efforts.
I thought we played good enough defense to win. When you hold a team to 60 that averages in the 70s, you have a chance to win. I just don’t think we were efficient enough on the offensive end,” Dawkins said.
The Knights held the Bearcats to just 35.4 percent from the field and 31 percent from behind the three-point line, but it wasn’t enough to make up for their struggling offense.
The Knights shot 39.6 percent from the field, and were only 3-of-15 from three point range, but it was turnovers that killed the offense.
UCF moves to 15-9 following the game and 6-6 in conference play, while the Bearcats remain atop the division at 22-2 and 11-0 in the AAC.
The Knights will return home for two home games. They will host UConn on Saturday at 6 p.m., followed by Tulsa at 7 p.m.
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