Following two respectable losses to conference opponents Wichita State (11-8) and No. 7 Houston (19-2), UCF has a major opportunity to not only get back on a winning track, but seek revenge against its biggest foe.
UCF (12-7, 4-5 AAC) returns home to take on rival USF (7-13, 1-6 AAC), who completely dominated the Knights in their January 15 matchup, which resulted in a 75-51 whooping.
Fortunately, the Knights are catching the Bulls at the right time, losing their last three games by at least 19 points.
Here is everything you need to know going into the matchup:
How to Follow the Game
To watch: The game will be aired on ESPN+. You can stream this by downloading the ESPN app and subscribing to ESPN plus.
You can also follow the live stat cast on the ESPN app or on stats.statbroadcast.com.
To listen: Live commentary will be broadcasted on FM 96.9 The Game.
Who is favored? By How Much?
According to ESPN’s Basketball Power Index, UCF is favored by 11.5 points with a 90.7 percent chance to win.
How can the Knights avoid getting swept?
Shoot the ball better
In the first match between the rivals, UCF did not have a single player score in double-figures.
The Knights’ leading scorer was junior forward CJ Walker, who scored nine points off the bench.
UCF ended the night shooting just 19-of-57 (33%) from the floor, including an abominable 2-of-20 from beyond the arc (10%).
More efficiency from starting five
In addition, UCF’s starters will need to take an exponential step forward this go-around after being outscored 31-20 by its bench in the Jan 15 blowout.
UCF’s leading scorer Darin Green Jr. ended the game scoring just three points on 1-of-8 shooting (0-3 3P).
Green didn’t get much help, however, with the rest of the starters shooting a combined 7-of-32 (21.8%) from the floor.
Win the battle of the boards
In addition to a horrendous shooting night, UCF also got embarrassed in the rebounding battle.
UCF got completely out-worked by the Bulls, who more than doubled the Knights’ rebounding total on the night (53-26).
USF especially dominated in offensive rebounding, 21-8.
Tip-off for round two is set for 7 pm.
