Written by Francisco Vera.
The UCF Knights blow out the FAMU Rattlers in a 97-60 win, marking their first win by 30+ points since their win against Bethune Cookman in 2023.
UCF got off to a quick start, and as FAMU committed costly early mistakes on both sides of the ball, the Knights capitalized, jumping to an 11-point lead by the first media timeout.
The game remained all UCF basketball, scoring effectively and fighting for rebounds on both ends of the court. The Rattlers scored a handful of baskets, but it wasn’t enough to keep it close.
At the 6:21 mark, UCF had a 20-point lead, and it looked like the Knights were not stopping anytime soon. They continued to widen the gap and capitalize on FAMU’s mistakes. The score going into halftime was 48-20 in favor of UCF.
The second half was underway and both teams anchored down beginning to make more defensive efforts, but the Rattlers were unable to show effectiveness on said efforts. At the 14-minute mark, the Knights were up by 30 points.
As the game progressed, it was raining threes in favor of UCF and FAMU looked lost on both ends of the court. At the 7:37 mark, a media timeout was called and the Knights were driving away with the game.
With 2:45 left in the game, Senior Guard Poopha Warakulnukroh checked into the game for the Knights receiving a loud cheer from the student section after his first rebound and basket for the season.
The final score from Addition Financial Arena was 97-60 in favor of the Knights, as they improve to 2-1.
UCF’s Carmelo Pacheco led both teams in scoring with 17 points. Anthony Knowles led the scoring for the Rattlers with 12.
The Knights will head to Reed Arena and look to improve to 3-1, as they face the Texas A&M Aggies on November 14th at 8 p.m. A familiar opponent for Coach Dawkins as last year’s roster upset the then ranked Aggies last year, resulting in fans storming the court.
