The UCF men’s basketball team (19-8, 8-5 C-USA) suffered a crippling loss when they traveled to Tudor Fieldhouse in Houston, Texas to take on the Rice Owls (16-12, 7-6 C-USA) in what was a must win game for the Knights. The Knights lost 83-74 in a game that they had to go out of their way to lose.
It was a tale of two halves as the Knights turned the ball over 18 times in what can only be called an absolute collapse of a second half. While the Knights seemed unstoppable in the first half, the second half was nothing short of an abomination of basketball as UCF was outscored 46-25.
“You have to give Rice credit,” UCF head coach Donnie Jones said in a press release from UCFAthletics.com. “They played with much more toughness in the second half. We turned the ball over too much, and did not do a good job defensively.”
The loss closes all doors but one for the Knights to enter the Big Dance at the end of the season, leaving the C-USA Tournament as their last chance.
The Knights came out aggressive and on point in the first half as they shot an overwhelming 70 percent from the field, while knocking down eight-of-12 from behind the arc.
Keith Clanton posted a solid 18 points, seven rebounds and four blocks, but 16 points and six rebounds came in the first half. Clanton appeared to be nagged by an ankle injury he suffered in the middle of the final half that hurt his production for the remainder of the game.
A.J. Rompza, Tristian Spurlock and Clanton each hit two three-pointers on only seven combined attempts.
Including UCF’s bench players, Marcus Jordan was the only Knight to be held scoreless in the first-half as his cold streak continued.
Despite a frozen Jordan, which the Knights have adapted to playing with as of late, red hot shooting awarded the Knights a 12 point, 49-37 lead going into halftime.
The second half was a completely different story as Rice came out on a 13-2 run, shooting six-for-six from the floor.
After a rare Isaiah Sykes three, Rice continued to pour it on, turning their run into a 20-7 second half advantage.
Turnovers and poor possessions became a common theme in the second half, with Sykes giving up six of them. The sophomore finished with 15 quiet points.
One bright spot of the disappointing loss was freshman Kasey Wilson, who continued to make the most of his playing time. At one point in the second half, he scored seven straight points to help wake up his teammates. Wilson contributed 13 points for the night.
Jordan was inspired by the freshman, and hit two free throws along with his first field goal to get on the board with 10 minutes left in the game.
Rice continued to be the better team in the second half, as they executed their shots and did not turn the ball over nearly as much as the Knights.
With only a two-point lead and almost seven minutes left in the game, UCF went on a four minute drought until a pair of Sykes free throws left them staring at deficit of 73-77 with only 90 seconds left to play.
While Sykes would score the last four points for the Knights, it wasn’t enough to overcome the second half collapse as the Knights lost to the Owls, essentially crushing their March Madness hopes unless they win the C-USA Tournament.
Dylan Ennis led the Owls with 15 points and five assists, and Arsalan Kazemi made eight-of-nine free throws, in addition to his eight rebounds.
The Knights will return to action against UTEP this Saturday at 8 p.m. at the UCF Arena.
