The UCF Knights faced the South Florida Bulls at home for the second round of the War On I-4 rivalry series this season and were able to avenge the previous loss by defeating the Bulls 81-65 on Wednesday.
The Knights came out to a strong start in the first half outscoring their rival 39-31, shooting 48% from the floor and 44% from beyond the arc.
UCF’s C.J. Walker led the way for the Knights’ offense in the first half. The sophomore forward shot 5-of-6 from the floor leading the team with 12 points making his last four shots in a row.
UCF sophomore guard Darin Green Jr. added a solid 10 points 4-of-7 from the floor and 2-of-3 from beyond the arc by the end of the first half.
While the Bulls fought hard inside the paint to close the gap to within 6 points of the lead, the Knights ultimately proved too much for the Bulls.
The Knights completed 51% of shots from the field and 43% from beyond the arc, while the Bulls made 32% of shots from the field and 23% from beyond the arc.
Darius Perry, UCF’s leading scorer who came into the game averaging 14.4 points a game, had an uncharacteristic first half and only managed a couple of points.
The senior guard’s shooting lit up in the second half, where he was able to complete 3-of-5 from beyond the arc to add to 14 points, five rebounds and four assists to the Knights’ winning effort.
Walker finished with a team-high 18 points, shooting 4-of-7 from beyond the arc and 7-of-12 from the field.
“We all played collectively as a team,” Walker said. “I think that was the funniest part. A lot of the times we play individually, but tonight we came out with a good team win.”
With a minute left in the game, the Knight Nation rose to their feet chanting “U-C-F” along with thunderous applause as Perry dripped out the time remaining on the clock at center court as the Knights cruised to a dominant 81-65 victory over the Bulls avenging their Jan. 2 loss against their War on I-4 rivals.
After the game, UCF head coach Johnny Dawkins said he was pleased with the dominant victory and stressed the importance of having a killer instinct when it comes to building leads in games.
“The thing I really liked was we were able to sustain it,” Dawkins said, in reference to the Knights’ lead throughout the game. “We were able to sustain it and continue to build that lead which is something we’ve talked about having more of a killer instinct and get up. I think our guys showed that ability today.”
With the victory, the Knights improved to 7-11 overall and 5-10 in the American Athletic Conference, while the rival Bulls fell to 7-8 and 3-6 in conference play.
The Knights will next take on the Tulane Green Wave in New Orleans on Saturday at 3 p.m.
