PHOTOS BY KURT RIVERS
UCF (8-0) picked up a win against Bethune Cookman (4-5) on Saturday night by a score of 76-59. The win marks the eighth straight victory for UCF on the season, propelling the Knights to the best start in school history since joining the Division 1 ranks in 1984.
After finishing the first half with a two-point lead, the Knights picked up the pace in the second, leading by as much as 21 points.
“We made some adjustments second half, really didn’t want to play Tom Herzog, but thank god he was able to come in and play because he changed the whole game the second half,” said head-coach Donnie Jones.
7-footer Tom Herzog scored 14 points and swatted 8 blocks in 17 minutes of action for the Knights.
When asked about his performance Herzog responded, “I came down here to get the opportunity to play and I’m just real thankful for the opportunity. “We are going to try to win the next game, if they keep driving in on me I’m going to keep blocking their shots.”
Sophomore forward Keith Clanton led the way for UCF, scoring a game-high 16 points, along with 8 rebounds, 5 assists and 1 block.
Marcus Jordan contributed 15 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists. Entering the game, Jordan has averaged career-highs in all three shooting categories, hitting 53.1 percent of his shots from the field, 48.1 percent from beyond three-point territory and 85.0 percent from the charity stripe.
UCF (who was ranked 3rd in the country in scoring defense heading into the game) managed to hold the Wildcats to just 59 points, making it the seventh time in eight games that the Knights held their opponents to under 60 points.
During the Knights first seven games, the team shot 52.5 percent from the field, good enough for fourth best in the nation. On Saturday the team was right on queue, knocking down just under 57 percent of their attempts.
“We just got to focus on continuing to get better, continuing to practice harder, and control what we can,” said Jones.
The Knights next game will be played against Louisiana-Lafayette on December 15th at the UCF arena.
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