Read about how UCF beat Marshall here.

This time around, it was a much different story.

Coming off a tough overtime loss to the Los Angeles Clippers Monday night, the Magic (16-10) tied a season-high with 17 three-pointers, while getting 25 points and 24 rebounds from All-Star Dwight Howard, to bounce back for a 102-89 victory over the defending Eastern Conference champions Wednesday night at the Amway Center.

“We needed a good win, we came out tonight with prettty much the same energy we had last game, and we got a good win,” Howard said. “I think we did a better job coming out in the third quarter…they made a little run but we kept playing and got a good win.”

James was limited to just 17 points on five-of-15 shooting from the field this time around, but had a strong overall effort with 10 assists, six boards and three steals.

“You play them the best you can. If there was a game plan to lock those guys down, number one, everyone would use it and, number two, they wouldn’t be who they are,” Orlando Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said. “You do the best you can and hope they miss some shots, and he (James) missed some tonight.”

Orlando began the game with hot shooting and ended the game with even hotter shooting. The Magic hit nine three pointers in the first half- five coming from Ryan Anderson- and they continued their strong shooting for the remainder of the contest to keep the Heat (19-7) at bay, while ending their Southeast Division rivals three-game winning streak.

Anderson led the Magic with 27 points, 15 from beyond the arc, to go along with 11 rebounds and three assists.

“Ryan was amazing. Shot the ball well, he rebounded, and that’s how we need him to play. They were leaving him open, and he knocked down shots,” Howard said. “So, just got to continue to be confident in his shot and just play hard.”

Despite the monster start by Orlando, which saw them grab a 17-point lead at one point in the second quarter, it wasn’t enough to put away the Heat. Actually, it wasn’t enough to put away Dwyane Wade.

Wade single-handedly kept the Heat in the game, posting 18 second-quarter points on 90 percent shooting from the floor that allowed Miami to go into halftime trailing by only three points, 53-50.

“I thought we did a good job gathering ourselves, we held our composure and nobody seemed the least bit worried. We just kept making plays,” Van Gundy said.

Wade led all scorers to finish the game with 33 points on 15-of-24 shooting.

However, it was the third quarter that knocked the wind out of the Heat. Led by more hot shooting and suffocating defense, the Magic were able to outscore the Heat 24-11 in the third quarter, limiting Miami to five-of-22 shooting from the field.

The 11 points in the third quarter was a season low for Miami and the lowest point total since the Big Three era began.

“You have to give them credit because they sustained it. We made a run there in the second quarter, but then to jump out in the third quarter, they put us at bay again, and it seemed like the whole night they had us on our heels,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.

Despite a 77-61 deficit going into the final quarter, the Heat were able to hang around, making an 11-2 run midway through the fourth quarter to get within nine points.

However, subsequent three-pointers by Jason Richardson and J.J. Redick put a huge damper in the Heat’s comeback bid.

Overall, the Magic shot 17-of-42 (40.5 percent) from beyond the arc, with Orlando’s 42 attempts being a franchise high from the three-point line.

Despite Anderson and Howard combining for 52 of the Magic’s points, Orlando played solid team ball all around. They played aggressive defense on James and Bosh, limiting the All-Star duo to 10-of-27 shooting in the game.

Bosh ended with 12 points and nine rebounds.

Orlando also dominated the boards, grabbing 48 to the Heat’s 38, including owning the offensive boards 17-9. That led to the Magic holding the edge in second chance points, 23-9, which disrupted the Heat’s defensive flow.

But, it was the lights out shooting and dominant performance by Howard that really sunk the Heat.

“They shot the three extremely well. The Big Fella in the middle took care of his 20 and 20 once again. Sometimes you have to pick your poison, but we gave up both tonight,” James said. “They are an extremely tough team to beat when they are making the threes and Big Fella is doing what he wants.”

The only area where the Magic weren’t proficient were on the fast break, where they allowed Miami to notch 16 fast-break points.

The Magic return to action Friday night against the Atlanta Hawks, who knocked Orlando out of the playoffs in six games in last year’s Eastern Conference quarterfinals.

Keith Clanton came up big for UCF, posting 20 points to lead all scorers, as well as seven rebounds and three assists.

Much was made about this matchup prior to the start, including the student section’s choking act during the pre-game announcements to the heat being turned up because of complaints by Marshall head coach Tom Herrion during last season’s matchup.

The Knights came out hot in the first half, but the contest quickly evened as the Knights failed to hit open jump shots and provide themselves with opportunities due to rushed possessions and poor shot selection.

Marshall took the lead back at the 2:05 mark after Shaq Johnson hit a pair of free throws.

UCF shot a porous 12-of-32 from the field in the first half, and Marcus Jordan especially struggled, looking more for his own offense than that of his teammates. Marshall ended the half on a 10-4 run, dominating the last five minutes.

The second half saw a resurgence for the Knights with Isaiah Sykes rebounding, sparking a 12-2 in the first four minutes of play.  Tristan Spurlock was a big spark off the bench, adding 13 points and six rebounds.

“We lost the game on the free throw block tonight and crucial turnovers leading to easy scoring opportunities,” said Marshall head coach Tom Herrion.

Similar to their game at SMU, a key member of the Knights starting five picked up four fouls in crunch time. Keith Clanton was forced to sit for a few key minutes down the stretch.  Marshall came out firing in the last four minutes, and the Knights failed to make their free throws, being bailed out by Spurlock and Sykes superb offensive rebounding.

“We put on the board this is one of the best rebounding teams in the country, they’ve only been out rebounded three times this season and tonight was four. I wrote it on the board- the three most important keys to the game were rebounding, rebounding and rebounding,” said Donnie Jones.

The Thundering Heard went four-of-four from three and cut the lead to two with 30 seconds left.  After a tie up, Jordan hit a three in the corner to take a 65-60 lead, sucking the momentum out of Marshall.  Jordan finished with 15 points.

“It’s only natural for me to want that shot with the clock winding down. I think I’ve been there a couple of times at the end of games making clutch plays. That’s what I tried to do and it went in,” said Jordan.

Sykes capped off the victory with an emphatic dunk, adding another double double with 15 points and 10 rebounds.  To add to the sweet vindication for Knights fans, DeAndre Kane of Marshall, the player who hit the two free throws to seal the victory for the Thundering Herd in the first game, air balled a free throw at the eight-minute mark and missed two more technical foul shots.

With this win, the Knights move to 7-3 in conference and 18-6 overall.  Keith Clanton also moved into fourth place all-time on the Knights rebounding leaders list.

The Knights return to action against Southern Miss in Hattiesburg to face an undefeated first place Golden Eagles squad at home this season.

UCF guard A.J. Rompza (3) during the C-USA basketball game at UCF Arena on Febuary 08, 2012 in Orlando, Florida. UCF defeated Marshall 67-60. (Kurt Rivers/KnightNews.com)

UCF forward Keith Clanton (33) battles for the ball during the C-USA basketball game at UCF Arena on Febuary 08, 2012 in Orlando, Florida. UCF defeated Marshall 67-60. (Kurt Rivers/KnightNews.com)

UCF forward Keith Clanton (33) during the C-USA basketball game at UCF Arena on Febuary 08, 2012 in Orlando, Florida. UCF defeated Marshall 67-60. (Kurt Rivers/KnightNews.com)

UCF guard/forward Isaiah Sykes (32) during the C-USA basketball game at UCF Arena on Febuary 08, 2012 in Orlando, Florida. UCF defeated Marshall 67-60. (Kurt Rivers/KnightNews.com)

Marshall head coach Tom Herrion during the C-USA basketball game at UCF Arena on Febuary 08, 2012 in Orlando, Florida. UCF defeated Marshall 67-60. (Kurt Rivers/KnightNews.com)

UCF forward Tristan Spurlock (1) gets the ball hit away during the C-USA basketball game at UCF Arena on Febuary 08, 2012 in Orlando, Florida. UCF defeated Marshall 67-60. (Kurt Rivers/KnightNews.com)

UCF fans yell at a Marshall player during the C-USA basketball game at UCF Arena on Febuary 08, 2012 in Orlando, Florida. UCF defeated Marshall 67-60. (Kurt Rivers/KnightNews.com)

Michael Jordan watches his son play during the C-USA basketball game at UCF Arena on Febuary 08, 2012 in Orlando, Florida. UCF defeated Marshall 67-60. (Kurt Rivers/KnightNews.com)

UCF guard A.J. Rompza (3) at mid court during the C-USA basketball game at UCF Arena on Febuary 08, 2012 in Orlando, Florida. UCF defeated Marshall 67-60. (Kurt Rivers/KnightNews.com)

UCF guard Marcus Jordan (5) during the C-USA basketball game at UCF Arena on Febuary 08, 2012 in Orlando, Florida. UCF defeated Marshall 67-60. (Kurt Rivers/KnightNews.com)

UCF guard Marcus Jordan (5) during the C-USA basketball game at UCF Arena on Febuary 08, 2012 in Orlando, Florida. UCF defeated Marshall 67-60. (Kurt Rivers/KnightNews.com)

A Marshall player falls towards UCF guard/forward Isaiah Sykes (32) during the C-USA basketball game at UCF Arena on Febuary 08, 2012 in Orlando, Florida. UCF defeated Marshall 67-60. (Kurt Rivers/KnightNews.com)

UCF guard A.J. Rompza (3) gets fouled at the end of the game during the C-USA basketball game at UCF Arena on Febuary 08, 2012 in Orlando, Florida. UCF defeated Marshall 67-60. (Kurt Rivers/KnightNews.com)

UCF guard Marcus Jordan (5) goes to the basket during the C-USA basketball game at UCF Arena on Febuary 08, 2012 in Orlando, Florida. UCF defeated Marshall 67-60. (Kurt Rivers/KnightNews.com)

UCF guard Marcus Jordan (5) goes to the basket during the C-USA basketball game at UCF Arena on Febuary 08, 2012 in Orlando, Florida. UCF defeated Marshall 67-60. (Kurt Rivers/KnightNews.com)

UCF guard Marcus Jordan (5) goes to the basket during the C-USA basketball game at UCF Arena on Febuary 08, 2012 in Orlando, Florida. UCF defeated Marshall 67-60. (Kurt Rivers/KnightNews.com)

UCF guard/forward Isaiah Sykes (32) during the C-USA basketball game at UCF Arena on Febuary 08, 2012 in Orlando, Florida. UCF defeated Marshall 67-60. (Kurt Rivers/KnightNews.com)

UCF forward Tristan Spurlock (1) during a slam dunk during the C-USA basketball game at UCF Arena on Febuary 08, 2012 in Orlando, Florida. UCF defeated Marshall 67-60. (Kurt Rivers/KnightNews.com)

UCF guard Marcus Jordan (5) and UCF fans after shooting the final 3 point shot of the game during the C-USA basketball game at UCF Arena on Febuary 08, 2012 in Orlando, Florida. UCF defeated Marshall 67-60. (Kurt Rivers/KnightNews.com)

The recruiting infractions regarding the UCF football and basketball teams led to the resignations of former Athletic Director Keith Tribble and UCF assistant football coach David Kelly.

UCF originally had 90 days to respond to the allegations, but UCF spokesman Grant Heston said the NCAA agreed to extend the deadline to Feb. 20 at the request of another party involved in the investigation.

The NCAA determined that the mentor of current UCF senior point guard A.J. Rompza, Ken Caldwell was affiliated with a professional agent. That led to Rompza’s 12-game suspension for receiving improper benefits and he was ordered to return the $900 he received.

Now, UCF will have until the 20th to respond to the allegations, and the NCAA will determine whether the school’s self-imposed penalties will be enough or if they will punish them further.

UCF returned to conference play after a solid win against Division II Palm Beach Atlantic on Monday to defeat a lowly Mustangs team, who was coming in losers of four in a row.

The Knights, currently in fourth in Conference USA, improved to 3-2 on the road this season in conference play and needed the victory to keep pace in a competitive field featuring several potential at large teams.

Going into the game, the Knights had an RPI of 70 with two quality wins on their resume, meaning that they can play their way into the field even without winning the conference title.

UCF shot an abysmal 29 percent from the field, but was able to quell their free throw woes, going 11-of-13 in the first half. The second half saw a vast improvement as the Knights shot 46 percent from the field and continued to control the boards.

The Knights started the second half on a 14-4 run to take a 42-33 lead. This season has proven how big the last five minutes of the first half and first five minutes of the second half have been as most of their games have been decided in that period.

With 5:32 left in the game, Isaiah Sykes picked up his fourth foul after leading the Knights in scoring to that point. Marcus Jordan would pick up the slack from there, finishing with 17 points and four rebounds to lead UCF.

SMU would pull to within four, but could never regain control of the contest. With this win, UCF moves to within a game and a half of first place Southern Miss.

The Knights return to action Wednesday against rival Marshall in the Dungeon. The game is themed to be a “beach game” because UCF plans to turn up the heat after complaints by Marshall head coach Tom Herrion about the arena being too hot.

Marcus Jordan led the the Knights, who were in desperate need of a victory, with 17 points, 15 coming from three-point buckets, to go along with three assists, two rebounds and two steals.

The win was the 20^th-straight non-conference home victory for UCF.

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UCF head coach Donnie Jones was happy to get back on track.

“We’re just happy it’s over with, we pulled out the win there,” Jones said.

The Sailfish did all they could to keep up with the Knights in the first half, not trailing by more than 12, and pulling within five points, before the final three minutes of the half when UCF was able to pull away.

It was only a matter of time before the athleticism and talent gap between the Knights and their Division II opponent became apparent.  The Knights started a run that would continue through halftime and leave the Sailfish gasping for air.

UCF shot 47 percent compared to PBA’s 29 percent in the first half and went into the locker room with a safe 18-point lead at 43-25.

Just to put in perspective the amount of fun the Knights were having, Isaiah Sykes was shooting three’s, and Bobby Horodyski got playing time.

The Knights emerged from halftime on a mission to put away the Sailfish with a surge of three-point shots from Marcus Jordan, who tied a season high for three-point field goals. Thunderous dunks from Keith Clanton, who posted a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds, and Kasey Wilson (15 points) kept the short-manned Knights’ fans rowdy throughout the contest.

Wilson had a career night and made the best of his 20 minutes of playing time, shooting seven-of-10 from the field and added five rebounds.

“We got a chance to play some young guys tonight, like Kasey Wilson. We’re really happy with him and to see his improvement,” said Jones.

The Knights saw playing time from the little used Horodyski, as well as freshman Wayne Martin and Rod Days. The Sailfish made an attempt to capitalize on UCF putting in their inexperienced players and went on a 16-0 run, turning a 77-49 point blowout into a 77-65 point ballgame.

Coach Jones saw enough and put the cavalry back in to seal the deal.

Marcus Hardy and Dante Valentine led the Sailfish in scoring with 19 and 17 points, respectively.

The UCF starters took care of business and finished out the game, winning 84-69 in front of a small, but very satisfied crowd.

Sykes finished with a solid 14 points, seven boards, five assists and two steals.

The Knights now have five days off to rest, and return to Conference-USA action for a road game against SMU, a venue the Knights have never won at. Tip-off is set for 3 p.m. on Feb. 4.

It was the second straight loss overall for UCF (15-6, 5-3 C-USA), who now moves down to fifth place in the conference.

The Knights largest lead of the game was with four minutes remaining in the first half 31-19, but then Southern Miss ended the half with a 12-0 run, capped off by a buzzer-beating three pointer to end the half. This seemed to deflate the Knights as they went to the half.

“With four minutes to go there, we were up 12, and you gotta be able to hold those leads especially with a team that’s explosive,” UCF head coach Donnie Jones said. “They got a lot of guys that can score the basketball.”

“I think they got a lot of momentum off of that, but we still had the lead going into halftime,” UCF forward Keith Clanton said. “We should’ve kept our composure and played harder.”

Jones noticed that his team wasn’t the same in the second half after Southern Miss made that run to end the half.

“I thought we were in a pretty good rhythm, but we didn’t respond in the second half the way we needed to, and Southern Miss did,” Jones said. “There’s the reason why they are in first place by the way they played tonight.”

Southern Miss carried the momentum from the first half into the second half, pulling away to a 10-point lead midway through the half. UCF wasn’t able to get back in the game due to a lack of defensive rebounding. Southern Miss was able to get easy putbacks off of offensive rebounds, and they made their free-throws down the stretch when UCF had to foul.

USM (19-3, 6-1 C-USA) out-rebounded the Knights 35-33 and shot 19-for-27 at the free-throw line. The Golden Eagles had two players to share the scoring load. Forward Darnell Dodson scored 22 points with eight rebounds, and Neil Watson had 23 points with six assists.

UCF came into the contest ranked next to last in three-point percentage and shot just four-of-14 tonight from distance. Leading the team was Clanton, who finished with 21 points on nine-of-12 shooting with six rebounds. Marcus Jordan’s struggles continued tonight. He finished with 11 points on four-of-11 shooting.

The Knights will have another chance to bounce back from this loss and get right back into action on Monday night as they will face Palm Beach Atlantic University at the UCF Arena at 7 p.m.