While there’s still plenty of excitement in Orlando regarding the move, which will happen in 2013, the Big East seems to be experiencing a little turbulence.

Commissioner John Marinatto resigned Sunday after a rocky year for the conference, which saw quite a few high profile programs bolt for other conferences, including Pittsburgh, TCU, West Virginia and Syracuse.

Marinatto spent three years as the Big East’s commissioner before he was reportedly asked to step down from the position by league presidents.

Despite the shake up of the Big East, UCF leaders are still looking forward to the move.

“It’s a great conference, a great platform,” UCF Athletic Director Todd Stansbury said to the Orlando Sentinel. “… We just need the fans to keep supporting all our teams and enjoy it.”

There have also been rumors that Boise State may back out of its commitment to the Big East because they haven’t officially informed the Mountain West of its departure.

Regardless, the move is beneficial for the Knights. There is still a huge boost in national media exposure, the elusive automatic qualifying tag, television contracts and better competition.

Now, the Big East will search for a new commissioner, in hopes of getting more lucrative television contracts, which may have also been part of the reason the Big East wanted to go a different direction with Marinatto.

“I wouldn’t read too much into that,” Stansbury said to the Sentinel regarding Marinatto’s departure. “Conference commissioners do change and it really doesn’t really change a lot as far as what’s going on in a conference. I think John did a great job navigating through some fairly treacherous waters. … We wish him a lot of luck.”

With the Big East restocking the league with UCF, Houston, SMU, Boise State and San Diego State, Knight Nation shouldn’t be worried. The conference still has its AQ status, still boasts arguably the best college basketball conference in the nation and provides a large increase in exposure for UCF.

The Knights enter their final season as a member of C-USA starting this fall.

E-mail us at athletics@knightnews.com or follow us on Twitter … Allen Levin can be followed @TheNBAllen 

No problem.

Despite missing three of its biggest contributors, the Orlando Magic (36-25) used a balanced team attack to overcome a shorthanded lineup and beat the reeling Philadelphia 76ers, 113-100, Monday night at the Amway Center.

Even without Dwight Howard, who sat out for a fifth consecutive game due to a herniated lower back disk, the Magic still had six players in double figures, led by Ryan Anderson’s 26 points and 16 rebounds, to improve to 3-4 without their superstar center.

“This is the way we can win games, and this is what makes us so hard to guard especially with Turk out and with Glen out and with Dwight out,” Anderson said. “We just have to get those energy points and crash the boards like we did tonight…We moved the ball, we played great offense, and it’s because we played very unselfish tonight.”

A Magic lineup sans two starters and a key reserve player would usually spell trouble.

However, Orlando was surprisingly still able to post 113 points and have three players achieve double-doubles, despite Howard, Davis and Turkoglu’s combined 40.2 points per game watching from the bench.

“If you’re a Magic fan, and you didn’t enjoy tonight, then I don’t understand it,” Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said. “Our guys played very well. I know I am extremely proud of the guys that were out there tonight.”

The Magic boasted just a six-point lead at the intermission, but a 13-4 spurt to start the third quarter gave them some cushion that Philadelphia (31-29), who is fighting with the Knicks for the seventh spot in the East, couldn’t recover from.

Although, the Sixers did make it interesting.

Louis Williams’ three-pointer with 2:45 left in the contest got Philly within seven points, but that was the closest the Sixers would get as each team traded baskets the rest of the way out.

The Magic made sure that Philadelphia’s comeback bid wouldn’t get any more serious as they continued to get contributions from all over the roster until the final buzzer sounded, overwhelming a 76ers team desperate for a victory with the playoffs less than two weeks away.

JJ Redick, starting his six-straight game, came up big with 18 points on 50 percent shooting, while Jason Richardson posted 17 points and Jameer Nelson had a double-double with 16 points and 13 assists.

The on-and-off used Earl Clark was the third Magic player to notch a double-double, scoring 14 points and grabbing 11 boards for his first double-double effort of the season. Quentin Richardson rounded out the Orlando scoring with 13 points off the bench.

The Magic’s well-balanced effort and unselfish play helped them win their second straight game in a time where they are fighting for playoff positioning in the Eastern Conference. With the victory, Orlando now sits in a three-way tie with Atlanta and Boston, also 36-25, for the coveted fourth seed and homecourt advantage in the first round.

“When you have purity and you’re just going out to play hard and play together and try to win, energy’s a lot easier than when it becomes about individual things,” Van Gundy said. “They’ve put all that aside now and guys are doing whatever it takes. There’s not selfishness and no agendas, everybody’s just playing.”

Although it was the Magic’s balanced effort that was the story of the game, the Sixers had a pretty unselfish game, too.

Philadelphia saw five players in double figures, led by Jrue Holiday’s 18 points and eight assists. Lou Williams and Thaddeus Young had 15 points a piece, while All-Star Andre Iguodala finished with 15 points, eight rebounds and four assists. Evan Turner added 13 points and five rebounds for the 76ers.

Even with the solid team effort, Philadelphia simply couldn’t contain the Magic’s hot shooting.

Orlando shot a scorching 11-for-18 from three-point range, with five Magic players hitting multiple shots from downtown. Additionally, the Magic shot 53 percent from the field in the game.

What was even more surprising than the high scoring without key players was the Magic’s rebounding performance. Orlando held the rebounding edge, 46-30, despite the absence of the NBA’s leading rebounder.

“We out-rebounded them by 16 and that made a big difference in the game. To be up 16 on the boards without Dwight, those guys are making a great effort. On defensive rebounds, all those guys made a great effort,” Van Gundy said.

Orlando’s 13 offensive rebounds, eight of them gobbled up by Anderson, compared to Philly’s four also made a considerable difference in the game.

“They are a three-point shooting team. By them getting those extra possessions and we were in there…we are just not grabbing the ball. They could pass it out for three-point shots. They killed us on the three-point shots and the offensive rebounds,” Holiday said. “That was the game plan right there…not to let them shoot threes and no extra possessions.”

With the defeat, Philly fell into a tie with idle New York for the seventh seed and only holds a two-game advantage over Milwaukee for the eight and final spot in the East playoff picture.

The Magic will return to action Wednesday night in a critical matchup with the Boston Celtics as the two teams battle for playoff positioning with just five games remaining in the regular season.

The Magic have been bitten by the injury bug with Dwight Howard, Ryan Anderson and Jameer Nelson all missing time in the last week. Then, there is the public spout heating up between Magic (32-23) coach Stan Van Gundy and its franchise cornerstone, Dwight Howard.

And this all comes in the midst of an ill-timed losing streak, which was extended to five games Thursday night after a 96-80 beat down from the New York Knicks (28-27) at the Amway Center.

Van Gundy expressed the rough patch that’s currently surrounding his team after the Magic lost to the Knicks for the second time in the last nine days.

“We’re in a bad time right now. We’re not the deepest team in the world anyway. We got guys hurt, we’re not playing well at all, we’ve got no rhythm.”

Orlando’s recent struggles come right as Van Gundy publicly exposed Howard early Thursday, saying his All-Star Center wanted him fired and even went as far as to say that someone in management confirmed Howard’s desire for a coaching change.

“I know he has,” Van Gundy told reporters before Thursday night’s game, alluding to Dwight asking Magic management to fire him. “That’s just the way it is. Again, I’ve been dealing with that all year. It’s not anything real bothersome. You go out and do your job.”

Despite the drama surrounding yet another Magic media frenzy, Orlando is just trying  to snap out of its recent lull.

However, the Knicks wouldn’t allow that, getting five players in double figures Thursday night for their second straight rout over Orlando.

Carmelo Anthony led all scorers with 19 points, to go along with eight rebounds and three assists. JR Smith and Toney Douglas came off the bench to score 15 points a piece, while Tyson Chandler chipped in a double-double with 12 points and 12 boards, and Landry Fields added 10 points for the Knicks.

But it wasn’t just the Knicks high powered offense, which shot a scorching 52 percent (13-for-25) from the three-point line, that helped them blowout the Magic. It was actually their strong defensive play that carried them to their third victory in the last five games.

New York held Orlando to 41.7 percent shooting from the field, including nine-of-24 from beyond the arc in the game, while forcing them into 14 turnovers to disrupt their offensive flow.

However, it was Tyson Chandler’s defense on Howard, who missed the last two games because of back spasms, that really made the difference. Chandler noticeably outplayed his counterpart, limiting the widely considered best center in the game to just eight points and eight rebounds in the contest.

It was Howard’s lowest-point total since he was limited to eight points, ironically, also against the Knicks, back on January 16th.

To put things in perspective, Howard was held scoreless in the first half and didn’t score his first points of the contest until a he got a wide-open dunk with 3.5 seconds left in the third quarter.

“I thought we did a great job team wise. I thought my teammates did an excellent job of taking him (Howard) out of a rhythm and allowing me to play individual defense,” Chandler said. “I think we have been able to take him out of his comfort zone and make things difficult for him by not giving him any easy shots.”

While the Magic were struggling to hit shots, the Knicks were having a field day, especially from the perimeter. New York broke things open in the second quarter, converting six-of-nine shots from deep to finish the first half nine-for-15 from downtown.

“It broke the game wide open. Two of the threes were off missed layups. I don’t know how many layups we missed today…We just couldn’t get our defense set in the second quarter,” Van Gundy said.

The Knicks were able to outscore the Magic 33-23 in the second quarter, while Anthony, Smith, Iman Shumpert and Steve Novak combined to go eight-of-10 from three-point range, helping New York take a 56-44 lead into halftime.

From there, it wasn’t really a question of who was in control as the Magic never threatened, 10 points being the closest they would get the rest of the way out.

“We gotta say together. We’re having a tough stretch. Shots are not falling, our defense has not been great, but we just got to stick together. We’re going through one of the toughest times in the season right now; there’s a lot going on as a team, and we just got to stay together,” Howard said. “We’re going to work harder, we’re going to play harder, and we’re going to find a way before the playoffs come to get it right. That’s the game plan.”

Orlando played without Ryan Anderson, its second-leading scorer, for the second consecutive game as the big man continued to nurse a sprained ankle. Even with Anderson out and Howard struggling, the Magic still got five players in double figures, led by Jason Richardson’s 16 points.

Glen Davis continued his recent string of strong play, posting 15 points and seven rebounds in his third consecutive start. Davis had a career-high 31 points in Orlando’s loss to Detroit Tuesday night, and is averaging 21.3 points and 11 boards over the last three contests.

Von Wafer came off the bench to score 13 points, while Nelson and J.J. Redick each added 10 points for the Magic.

Adding to the Magic’s injury problems, Hedo Turkoglu took an inadvertent elbow from Anthony late in the second quarter, causing a pool of blood on the court before leaving the game. Turkoglu received three stitches and wouldn’t return to the game.

Despite all of Orlando’s recent woes, Van Gundy is confident his team can get back on track.

“I think we will. We’ve got three weeks and we’ve got tough guys in there, and I think we’ll be fine. I think we’ll get back to playing well,” Van Gundy said. “There isn’t one guy in the NBA who hasn’t been through this. When you get in these stretches, it feels like it’s never going to end, but it always does. The only thing I said to them that’s got to be our only focus is going and playing better.”

Even with the five-game losing streak, Orlando has been playing well. Not counting the two losses to New York, the Magic have only lost by an average of four points, and that has mostly been with Howard, Anderson and Nelson on the bench with injuries.

“We go up to Detroit, we don’t have three starters…our three best offensive players in the past month. Take any team in the NBA, take their three best offensive players away. It’s five games in a row, but you can overstate it too. You’ve got to put it in perspective,” Van Gundy said. “This is very difficult right now, but we can pull out of it.”

The Magic will look to do just that when they head to Philadelphia Saturday night to face the sliding 76ers.

However, Nowitzki’s notorious shots are different than the majority of his peers because his aren’t really guardable.

With the game knotted at 98 and 5.9 seconds left in regulation, Nowitzki nailed the game-winner on his trademark one-footed, fadeaway jumper, over Hedo Turkoglu’s outstretched hand, to lift the Dallas Mavericks (30-23) over the Orlando Magic, 100-98, Friday night at the Amway Center.

“He’s pretty impossible to guard because he’s seven-feet tall and he shoots the ball so high, so there’s no way you can block his shot,” Magic forward Ryan Anderson said. “You can’t block his shot. The best you can do is get a hand up, so he’s tough to guard.”

Nowitzki led five Dallas players in double figures with 28 points on nine-for-18 shooting, while Jason Terry provided 10 big fourth-quarter points to finish with 17 off the bench.

The Magic (32-20) had a chance to tie the game on the final possession after a Turkoglu missed three-point attempt was grabbed by Anderson, but he missed a wide-open put-back attempt from right under the basket, and the Mavericks walked away with a come-from-behind victory.

“We had a chance to tie it, and I blew it. So ultimately we need to play the whole game. We’ve been talking about that the whole season practically, just playing a whole 48 minutes,” Anderson said. “They made a great run; we didn’t have answers during that time, so we just have to consistently play the entire game.”

Dallas, who was blown out by the Heat Thursday night in Miami, was able to redeem themselves as they split their two-game Sunshine State road swing.

The Mavericks trailed by as many as 15 points in the contest, but used a 7-0 run at the end of the third quarter to get within seven points. The Mavericks continued to chip away in the fourth quarter, before eventually taking their first lead since the first quarter on a Terry And-1 layup with seven minutes left in regulation.

From there, it was a back-and-forth matchup as both teams traded baskets. The Magic took a four-point lead after four straight points from Anderson, however a Delonte West three-pointer, followed by two West free throws gave the Mavericks the advantage again.

Jameer Nelson failed to give the Magic the lead after being fouled, only converting one-of-two free throws, ultimately setting up Nowitzki’s game winner.

“We dodged a couple of bullets obviously. We got lucky, and it could have gone either way down the stretch,” Nowitzki said. “A tie game is a fun situation to be in…It was a big play, but they came back and had a clean look at the three and Anderson had a wide open tip put back, so we dodged a couple of bullets there.”

It was another disappointing game for the Magic, who lost for the sixth consecutive time at home vs. the defending champion Mavericks. Orlando was hoping to get back on track after suffering a 22-point blowout at the hands of the New York Knicks Wednesday night.

And it appeared the Magic would come away with a win after leading for the majority of the game and outplaying the Mavericks in many areas throughout the night.

Orlando won the rebound battle, 47-37, converted 11 shots from beyond the arc compared to Dallas’ seven, held the Mavs to under 50 percent shooting (47.5) and had a lead after three quarters of play. Usually, that translates into victories for the Magic, who came into the contest 24-6 when outrebounding their opponent, 22-5 when converting 10 or more long balls, 30-13 when holding opponents under 50 percent shooting, and 25-3 when leading after the third quarter.

However, none of that mattered Friday night as the Magic continued to be plagued by costly turnovers, committing 16 miscues in the game, with six of them coming in the final period.

“I didn’t see a let up, but you can’t say apart from the turnovers. That’s what will cost you the lead. That’s what cost us the lead tonight. If you’re going to turn it over 12 times, that’s a huge part of the game,” Magic Coach Stan Van Gundy said. “You can’t excuse the turnovers. That’s a huge, huge part of the game.”

It also didn’t help that Nowitzki and Terry combined for 16 fourth-quarter points on 70 percent (seven-of-10) shooting for Dallas, who outscored the Magic 29-20 in the fourth for the comeback win.

West had 15 points and five assists off the bench in just his second game back from injury, while Shawn Marion contributed 15 points and nine rebounds, and Vince Carter chipped in 12 points for the Mavericks.

Nelson led Orlando with 24 points, to go along with seven rebounds and four assists, while Dwight Howard recorded his 42nd double-double of the season, posting 19 points and 15 boards. Anderson notched 21 points and Turkoglu added 12 points, four rebounds and four assists for the Magic.

Another cause for concern for the Magic was poor free-shooting as Orlando finished just 17-for-28 from the charity stripe.

“The problem is this; you shoot 60 percent at the free-throw line, 17-for-28, and you turn the ball over 12 times in the second half and almost all of them go for baskets the other way, and that’s what got them back in the game, that’s where the the problem is,” Van Gundy said.

Van Gundy stressed the importance of his team improving their free throw shooting and ball control.

“We keep doing it and doing it and doing it and doing it, and it’s an area we’re just not getting better in…But the turnovers to me, that and free throw shooting is where the game is, and I have a hard time yelling and screaming about the free throw shooting, but the turnovers, until we get that under control, we have no chance to beat good teams on a consistent basis.”

Orlando will have the day off Saturday before hosting the Denver Nuggets Sunday evening.

UCF fell short of expectations, but there were still some positives to take away from the 22-11 Knights.

KnightNews Sports Editor Allen Levin goes head-to-head, one-on-one with Nick Wilke in the sixth edition of the KnightNews.com Sports Roundtable.

Tell us who you think wins the debate by commenting, e-mailing us at athletics@knightnews.com, or Tweeting us @KnightNewsSport

1. What happened to the Knights in the NIT?

Allen Levin: Simply put, the Knights were outplayed in all facets of the game. It was evident from beginning who was in control of the game as Drexel began with a 9-0 run out of the gates. UCF had to play a very good Drexel team, who probably should have been in the NCAA tournament, on the road, where the Knights struggled heavily this season (3-10).

UCF’s inconsistent offense struggled throughout the game, with Keith Clanton being the only Knights player to score in double figures with a whopping 12 points.

However, it was the Drexel three-point shooting that decimated UCF’s defensive and offensive flow, and ultimately led to the blow out. When your opponent shoots 50 percent overall, including 45 percent from deep, while you shot 38 percent and 26 percent from range, that won’t translate to wins.

Nick Wilke: First of all, Drexel should have been selected to be in the NCAA National Tournament instead of the NIT. Many of the college basketball analysts thought so also.

This was a very tough draw for UCF, and the Knights had to travel to play Drexel on their home court where they were 15-1 for the season. UCF never lead in the game. Drexel’s largest lead was up to 28. UCF could match Drexel for the first few minutes of the game, but then it turned into a blowout because UCF couldn’t contain Drexel guard Frantz Messenat, who finished with 18 points and 14 assists.

2. What do you make of the UCF Basketball team’s season as a whole?

AL: Overall, I’d say it was a solid year, but it still has to be considered a failure. There were high expectations for Coach Donnie Jones’ second year at the helm, and those expectations certainly weren’t the NITs.

The Knights had their sights set on March Madness, and due to a mini late-season collapse, they weren’t able to reach their goals. Boasting an 18-6 mark in early February, the Knights were poised to make the Tournament, before splitting their last six games, including a slip-up to Rice and a massacre at Memphis that ended their Big Dance hopes.

That being said, UCF did deal with tons of adversity, losing Dwight McCombs and Jeff Jordan midseason, while dealing with numerous other suspensions and hardships.

Still, I believe UCF should have been in the tournament this year, no questions asked. While it can’t be dismissed that UCF did finish 22-11 overall and 10-6 in the conference, including impressive wins over UConn and Memphis, the program and Knight Nation still, quite frankly, had an expectation of, well, more.

NW: The season was definitely not a failure. The Knights piled up 22 wins and won 10 games in Conference USA. UCF had so many different lineups this season, it was tough for Coach Jones to figure out his best lineup. A.J. Rompza was suspended for the first half of the season. PJ Gaynor, Marcus Jordan, and Josh Crittle were suspended a few times each.

And when Rompza came back, Jeff Jordan quit the team and Dwight McCombs was suspended for the rest of the season. The team had some big wins and some bad losses. I think they started real strong , but wore down at the end of the season.

3. Who was the team’s MVP?

AL: The name that comes to mind when you think UCF basketball MVP this season is Isaiah Sykes. His development was monumental and without that, the Knights would have been a much worse team this season. However, when you take a minute to think about it, the team’s most valuable player has to be Keith Clanton.

When Marcus Jordan suddenly went cold towards the end of the season, Clanton took on the unquestionable role as the Knights leading scorer and go-to offensive player. Big Cat finished as UCF’s leading scorer and rebounder at a 14.5 and 8.1 clip per game, respectively. He was named to the All-Conference-USA First Team, as well as named to the C-USA All-Defensive Team.

Clanton, along with Sykes, picked up the scoring load when Jordan’s scoring production dipped heavily towards the end of the year. Jordan scored 15 points or more only twice in the final 10 games, while shooting 33 percent (28-for-84) in those games. Without Clanton, the Knights are probably a .500 ball club.

NW: Sykes, because he could provide the Knights with so much. He was very valuable filling in for suspended players. I believe he played in every game, and played consistent throughout the season.

His aggressive play led him to have six games with double-figure rebounds and six games with three or more steals. He improved so much from last season, it’s crazy. UCF fans are wondering how he can improve this offseason. Maybe he will develop a mid-range jumper and a consistent free-throw shot.

4. What are you most looking forward to next year with Knights basketball?

AL: Calvin Newell Jr. This was a huge transfer for the UCF basketball program. The 6’1″, 200-pound Oklahoma-transfer will add an extremely talented piece to the Knights roster. Newell will make an immediate impact, and likely start at point guard next year now that A.J. Rompza has graduated.

Newell averaged 13 points per game in just 19 minutes in his lone season with the Sooners last year. He’s athletic, has great speed and quickness, and will provide much-needed offense to the Knights starting lineup. The trio of Keith Clanton, Marcus Jordan and Newell is what I’m really excited about.

With the addition of Newell, and the core of UCF’s roster returning, as well as talented incoming freshman, I think next year could be a real special year for the Knights. I’m saying it now- watch out for Newell Jr.

NW: I’m looking forward to see who will take over the point guard spot next season now that Rompza is gone. C.J. Reed, who was the 2010-2011 MEAC Player of the Year when he was at Bethune-Cookman, will be the front-runner for the position.

He had a good opportunity to learn the offense while sitting out last season because of transfer rules. He was practicing with the team all last year, so he should be ready for next season. Also, Calvin Newell Jr., a transfer from Oklahoma, will be eligible in December 2012 to compete for the team.

I think he will have an immediate impact as soon as he starts playing. As a sophomore for the Sooners, he averaged 13.0 points in 19.6 minutes per contest in his five game played before he left. It could possibly be one of the best backcourts’ UCF has ever had.

5. Grade you give to 2011-2012 Knights basketball?

AL: B (being generous): I give them credit for a 20-win campaign, a strong C-USA record, and season-defining wins over some big schools, but the NIT is not the NCAA Tournament, and that was what was expected of this team.

NW: B-

“Nothing changes for our team. Even though we’re down some players, our whole mindset is to go out there and do whatever it takes to win,” Rose said.

The Bulls proved him right, improving to 10-4 without their MVP guard, while routing the Orlando Magic 85-59 Monday night at the Amway Center.

Chicago got 24 points and 13 rebounds from Carlos Boozer, 20 points off the bench from backup point guard John Lucas III, while shutting down the Magic’s offense to rout Orlando (29-18) in its fourth consecutive game playing without Rose, who is nursing a sore groin.

Over the past week, the Bulls have now secured victories over Miami, Orlando and Philadelphia- the East’s No. 2, 3 and 4 seeds, respectively- without Rose,  to maintain the NBA’s best overall record (38-10). The Bulls also improved their league-best road record to 19-6 with the win.

Chicago has been able to beat the NBA’s top teams without its best player through excellent teamwork, hard-nosed play and solid performances from their bench and role players.

Orlando, on the other hand, could barely get offensive production from their starters, let alone their bench. The Magic’s bench was outscored 34-13, and they only got two players in double figures in the game.

The Magic had their worst offensive showing at home since the 2004 season, and by far their worst performance at home this season. Before tonight’s contest, the Magic’s lowest home point total was 83. Against a pesky Bulls defense, Orlando could only muster 59 points on 24-of-68 shooting (35 percent) from the field, including a woeful four-of-20 from the three-point line.

The Bulls set a record for the fewest points allowed in a regular-season game in franchise history, and that includes the Michael Jordan era.

Quite simply, the Magic could never get any flow on offense in the game, partly due to Chicago’s suffocating defense and partly because of the horrible shooting.

“That’s it, they played harder than us. One through 15, whoever stepped on the floor just played harder than us,” Dwight Howard said.

To put things in perspective, Orlando had only 43 points with 4:30 to go in the third quarter. The Magic posted a mere 26 points in the second half, and only 11 points in the final quarter.

“Our offense was pathetic. And that’s something that I have got to take a look at because we’ve got better players than that. It’s really two games in a row now where we’ve been very bad offensively,” Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said. “Some of the turnover stuff, guys have got to take the responsibility on their own. But, I’ve got to take responsibility for getting us better shots than we’re getting right now.”

With the Magic trailing by just 12 entering the fourth quarter, the Bulls were able to pull away with a dominant defensive display, outscoring Orlando 25-11 to turn the game into a blowout.

With 7:30 to go in regulation, Kyle Korver nailed a three-pointer, followed by a Joakim Noah And-1 bucket that gave the Bulls a 20-point advantage and ultimately the knockout punch. The Magic weren’t able to recover, and the rout only got worse from there.

The Magic shot 30 percent in the final quarter, allowed the Bulls to shoot 53 percent from the field, while turning the ball over five times. Orlando’s 18 total miscues in the contest yielded 25 Bulls points.

The Magic were led by Howard’s double-double of 18 points and 12 rebounds, to go along with three blocks. Ryan Anderson was the only other Orlando player in double figures with 10 points and five boards.

While Howard shot eight-of-12 from the field, almost every other Magic player contributed to Orlando’s futility Monday night. The other starters combined for 12-of-37 shooting from the field in a largely lackluster offensive performance.

“We’re fresh so we had an advantage there and they missed some shots that they normally make too, but I thought overall our defense was very good, that we made the effort to challenge shots,” Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said. “And then offensively, when we kept the ball moving and made quick decisions, I thought we were able to get decent shots.”

Orlando wasn’t very good on defense either, allowing 44 percent shooting from the floor in the game. Boozer’s 24 points came on an impressive 12-of-18 mark, while Lucas shot eight-for-13, including four-of-seven from beyond the arc. Luol Deng added 14 points for the Bulls.

The Magic were outplayed in almost every facet of the game as Chicago held the edge in rebounding, 48-38; they forced 18 Orlando turnovers and held the edge in fast-break points, 11-5.

Another factor in the sloppy offense for Orlando was the fact that Chicago’s defense was able to clog the passing lanes, contributing to just nine Magic assists in the game.

The Magic, who averaged 20.4 assists per game heading into the Bulls matchup, are 21-4 when they have more assists than their opponent, which wasn’t able to happen with the Bulls stingy defense.

Orlando shot under 40 percent for a second-consecutive night after shooting 39 percent in Sunday night’s loss to the Miami Heat.

“The hard part to understand is that we went to Miami, San Antonio back-t0-back and played very well offensively. And now, we come to these two games (Miami and Chicago), and we look like a totally different basketball team,” Van Gundy said.

Orlando, who was able to beat the Bulls in Chicago back in January with Rose in the lineup, couldn’t get it done on its home floor with Rose watching from the bench.

“See, we went out to Chicago and we beat them with Derrick Rose. Tonight, you saw a team out there playing without their star player, and did what they needed to do to win. And they beat us,” Glen Davis said. “They beat us with no problem. I wish they would have had Derrick Rose in a sense.”

The Magic, who have dropped three of their last four games, will look to rebound Wednesday night when they host the Phoenix Suns at 7 p.m.

Overwhelmed by lights out three-point shooting, the UCF men’s basketball team (22-11) ended its season in disappointing fashion, falling to Drexel University, 81-56, in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament Wednesday night at the Daskalakis Athletic Center.

Playing in the program’s first-ever NIT, the No. 6 Knights fell behind early and never had much of a chance to recover as the No. 3 Dragons (28-6) shot UCF right out of the building, converting 11 shots from beyond the arc and shot 51 percent from the field in the game.

“Give them credit. They are very good basketball team,” UCF head coach Donnie Jones said in a press release from UCFAthletics.com. “They really hit some tough shots.”

Drexel, who won the Colonial Athletic Association regular-season title, got four players in double figures, led by 19 points from Chris Fouch, who nailed five long balls in the game. Frantz Massenat came up big with 18 points and nine assists, while Derrick Thomas and Goran Pantovic added 10 points a piece.

The contest started off shaky for the Knights as they fell behind 9-0 early on, before Keith Clanton responded with seven straight points to get UCF back in the game. The Dragons went seven-for-12 from the perimeter in the first half, while limiting the Knights to just 24 points. They would take a 37-24 advantage into halftime.

Then, things got even worse for UCF in the second half.

By the 16-minute mark, Clanton and sophomore Isaiah Sykes had picked up their third fouls.

Although, in their absence, the Knights would go on a mini-run, closing within nine points on several occasions before things got ugly.

The Dragons would go on a 32-14 run over the next nine minutes with an array of three-pointers and fast-break points to pull away. The Knights also appeared agitated by a rowdy home crowd, where the Dragons improved to a perfect 14-0 this season.

The Knights had trouble producing offense throughout the contest, with Clanton being the only UCF player to finish in double figures. The All Conference-USA First Team member finished with 12 points and six rebounds.

Freshman Kasey Wilson posted nine points and eight boards, Tristan Spurlock also had nine, and Isaiah Sykes and Marcus Jordan chipped in seven points each for the Knights.

The Dragons defense limited UCF to 21-of-55 (38%) shooting from the floor, including 26.7 percent from the three-point line.

The Knights were also doomed by foul trouble, with Skyes fouling out late in regulation, while Clanton and A.J. Rompza played most of the second half with four fouls. Rompza ended his college career with six points.

UCF will have a long flight home to ponder all that went wrong in the game and try to improve on their road woes from this season. The Knights finished 3-9 away from Orlando, losing by an average margin of 17 points in the defeats.

Drexel will play Northern Iowa, who defeated Saint Joseph’s 67-65 on Tuesday night, in the second round of the NIT.

It was a frustrating end to an overall successful season for UCF, who notched one of its best records in program history, upset defending national champion UConn, beat Memphis for the first time in school history, made its first NIT appearance, and posted consecutive 20-win campaigns for the first time since 2005-2006.

The Knights will look to bounce back strong next year as they return 84% of their scoring from this season, and have promising recruits and transfers that could make them a force next season.

“I am proud of our season. We had a lot of firsts at our school,” Jones said in a press release from UCFAthletics.com. “This was our first time in the NIT, and we were honored to be a part of this great event. We had some big wins. Our program has done some good things. Our kids battled some adversity and overcame a lot. We had 22 wins, and had back-to-back 20-win seasons. We return a lot of guys next year; we lose two seniors. We are excited about where we are headed.”

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The Knights were 18-6 after beating Marshall on Feb. 8 and seemed poised to make their first NCAA Tournament berth since 2005. Then, they split their final six games, including a devastating loss at Rice later in the month that pretty much doomed UCF’s tournament hopes.

The Knights finished 10-6 in Conference-USA play, a far cry from last year’s 6-10 mark, but they failed to win key games late in league play that could have secured them an at-large bid in the Big Dance.

Now, UCF finds itself playing in the National Invitation Tournament for the first time in school history, with a matchup against No. 3 Drexel University tonight in Philadelphia at the Daskalakis Athletic Center.

Many fans might be upset with the NITs as a substitute for March Madness. Even UCF head coach Donnie Jones expressed disdain about an NIT berth before last week’s C-USA Tournament, saying that the Big Dance was the team’s ultimate goal.

“No, we want to go to the NCAA Tournament. We’ve had five of our nine losses have been to teams that are in the Top 25 in the RPI, and we’ve had five wins over team’s that have been to the NCAA Tournament last year,” Jones said. “We’ve played a really good schedule. These guys have earned that opportunity (to make the Big Dance).”

Jones made some solid points regarding the Knights resume and tournament credentials. Although late losses killed UCF, it should be their body of work from the season as a whole that is examined.

The Knights notched victories over defending national champion UConn, as well as this year’s C-USA champion Memphis Tigers, and last year tournament teams Old Dominion and UAB.

And while they did suffer some bad losses against the likes of LA Lafayette and Rice, most of their losses were against teams that are either in the tournament this year or were in it last year.

Regardless of the Knights body of work, they came up short in the conference tourney with a blowout loss at the hands of the Tigers and will have to settle for the NITs.

However, I don’t believe UCF Nation should be upset with the NIT bid. I think we should be excited and happy about it. Just think- this time last year, the Knights were in the College Basketball Invitational. I still don’t even know what the hell the CBI is? UCF finished with a 6-10 conference record and completely collapsed after a 14-0 start to the season.

This year, the Knights finished with the third best record in C-USA, posted their first-ever wins over Memphis and UAB, saw their first-ever storming of the court, and made a very respectable tournament that features teams such as Oregon, LSU, Tennessee, Washington and Arizona.

So, I think we should revel in UCF’s accomplishments this year and enjoy just how far the program has come since Donnie Jones took it over. The Knights have had back-to-back 20-win campaigns, two consecutive postseason berths and given UCF Nation plenty of things to be excited about as they enter the Big East in 2013.

So, look forward to tonight’s game vs. Drexel, and let’s hope that UCF is able to make a run in the NITs. The Knights have a legitimate superstar in Keith Clanton, who was named to the Conference-USA First Team, C-USA All-Defensive Team, and today was just announced as a member of the National Association of Basketball Coaches All-District 11 First Team.

Clanton is the first Knight to receive NABC All-District honors and C-USA First Team Honors since Jermaine Taylor was recognized in 2008-09.

They also have a budding star in Isaiah Sykes, who is one of the most improved players in the nation this year, as well as another star in Marcus Jordan.

So, make sure to tune-in to ESPN3 tonight and support the Knights as they square off with the Dragons at 7:15 in what could turn into a wild March run.

Be proud of the UCF basketball team and how far they’ve come because this is just the start of where this program could be sooner rather than later.

The All-Star center posted 24 points and tied a career-high with 26 rebounds to guide the Magic past the Miami Heat, 104-98,  in overtime in a thriller at the Amway Center Tuesday night.

With the NBA’s trade deadline less than 48 hours away, Howard has been the focal point of rumors as the Magic decide whether to keep him for the remainder of the season in hopes for one last run or trade him to ensure they don’t lose him for him nothing in free agency. Although, he did give the Magic organization some hope after the game, saying he wanted to stay put for at least the remainder of the year.

“I told (Orlando management) that I want to stay and finish the season. I feel like we have a good opportunity to win. I told them that I want to be able to win a championship here, and I told them to give me a chance,” Howard said. “We’re playing great basketball… I think we have a great chance of surprising a lot of people.”

Despite the constant speculation that follows the Magic, they were able to notch their third straight win, all against playoff-bound teams, including the Eastern Conference leading Chicago Bulls and tonight’s triumph over Miami.

Howard led four players in double figures, while using a solid defensive effort to down the Heat and finish 2-0 against the defending Eastern Conference champs in Orlando this year.

Jameer Nelson posted a team-high 25 points, while JJ Redick had 17 and Ryan Anderson chipped in 16 points and 12 rebounds for Orlando.

Even with a well-balanced attack, the Magic needed an extra five minutes to put away Miami, who came into the game with a three-game winning streak of their own.

With the game knotted at 91, Nelson nailed a three-pointer with 44 seconds left in the contest to give the Magic a three-point advantage. However, on the next possession, Dwyane Wade answered back with a three-point bucket of his own to tie the game.

Wade, who entered the game with just three triples all season, hit two long balls Tuesday night, including the one that sent the game into overtime, which was his first regular-season game with multiple three-pointers since March of last year.

On the ensuing play, Nelson attempted another three-pointer, but came up just short, setting up a final play for Miami. After hitting the game winner against Indiana just three days prior, Wade’s attempt from just inside the perimeter over a reaching Redick just rimmed out as the buzzer expired, sending the game into overtime.

In the extra period, Orlando would outscore Miami 10-4, using a combined eight points from Howard and Nelson to finally put down the Heat. It was Nelson, however, that put the Magic in a great position to win with his consistent attack mentality throughout the night.

“He was tremendous tonight. Best he’s played, maybe all year, certainly in a game where we needed it,” Magic head coach Stan Van Gundy said.

Wade led the Heat with 28 points, to go along with six rebounds, five assists, two steals and two blocks. Chris Bosh had a strong game with 23 points and eight boards, while LeBron James added 19 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists in the losing effort. Mario Chalmers chipped in 10 points for Miami.

Despite the solid second-half showing, the Magic had to rally from a first-half deficit to get the win over their Southeast Division rivals. After holding a lead for the majority of the first half, the Heat used a scorching 20-0 run in the final six minutes of the second quarter to take a 56-45 lead into halftime.

The run started with back-to-back three-pointers from little-used forward James Jones, and continued with nine points from LeBron James. During that span, Miami limited Orlando to just four points and the run didn’t stop until a Redick jumper with less than a minute remaining in the half.

Still, the Magic didn’t let the big run rattle them, as they were able to outscore the Heat 27-17 in the third quarter and limit Miami to just 37 second-half points.

“I thought our bounce back from a disastrous end of the second quarter was great. They had 21 fast break points before halftime. They had two fast break points in the second half. We out-rebounded them by 11. I thought our guys fought really hard,” Van Gundy said. “We turned it over way too much obviously, but it was a hard-fought game. Both teams played hard and well. It was a battle, and I was proud of our guys.”

Orlando’s stingy defense played a large factor in the victory, as they held the Heat to 44 percent shooting from the field, including 35 percent (eight-of-23) from beyond the arc in the game. In addition, the disparity in free-throw shooting helped Orlando immensely as the Magic went to the line 37 times, converting 21 of them, while limiting the normally foul shooting happy Heat to just 11 attempts from the charity stripe.

“We had some attacks and got to the rim at times, but I don’t know. We are an attack team. We had 23 threes (attempts), and we can’t win a game when we shoot more threes than more free throws,” James said.

Orlando was also able to limit the Heat to just two fast break points in the final half after allowing them to get 21 in the first half. The Magic also outrebounded their  counterparts 46-36 in the game, and edged them in second-chance points, 16-9.

It was another overall strong effort from the Magic, who appear to be playing their best ball of the season recently. They have wins over three of the top five seeded East squads in the last week and have established themselves as the clear No. 3 seed in the conference.

“It’s great. This is the way we’ve been wanting to play, just the entire game. Whenever they got a lead, we answered and this is what we’ve needed to do,” Anderson said. “We needed to get a win, a consistent win. The way we’ve been playing right now, we’re playing great. It’s huge.”

Orlando will look to continue their recent streak over elite teams when they head to San Antonio Wednesday to face the Southwest Division leading Spurs.

Whether Dwight Howard suits up for that game remains to be seen. Tip-off is set for 8:30 p.m.