The Knights edged out the Detroit Titans 75-70 Wednesday night in their first ever matchup against the Michigan team.
A strong start by UCF’s Adonys Henriquez and BJ Taylor set the tone early for the Knights. The freshmen duo together totaled 39 points, tallied three steals, and drilled eight of the team’s nine shots from behind the arc.
Detroit proved to be a tough opponent, fighting back in the second half to chop down an 18-point lead to three with less than thirty seconds to go. UCF stayed calm and connected on 7-of-8 free throws to seal the win.
“Our team showed great heart tonight,” UCF head coach Donnie Jones said. “The way this team worked the past few days was hard so I’m proud these guys bought in to play in the right way.”
Fans saw more aggressive gameplay made by the Knights, making up for Saturday’s upset against FAU.
“I feel like as a team we came closer. Most teams, when they start losing a couple games, start going away, everybody’s trying to do their own thing. We talked, we came closer, we fixed the problem and we addressed the issues,” said Adonys Henriquez.
Wednesday night’s win broke a three-game losing streak and improved the Knights to 6-4 while bumping down the Titans to 6-5.
UCF finished 22-of-44 on field goals and 22-of-32 on free throws. UCF and Detroit were even with 15 rebounds and 28 assists each.
The Knights will return to CFE Arena to face Southeastern Louisiana on Dec. 22 at 7 p.m. Fans can catch the game over the break on ESPN3.
