Teamwork was the theme of the game as the UCF Knights came out on top over the Houston Cougars 68-65, showing Houston that they would need more than Aubrey Coleman’s game high 26 points to defeat them at home.
After Coleman, who played all 40 minutes of the game, the Cougars had no one over 8 points on the night compared to the Knights who had three players in double figures, including Isaac Sosa’s 11 points off the bench.
Coleman came into the game as the nation’s leading scorer averaging 25.6 points per game. While on the other side of the ball, the Knights leading scorer of the night, Marcus Jordan, came into the game with something to prove.
“I think this game was more important because after the last win (in Houston on Jan. 20), Aubrey Coleman said it was an embarrassment and stuff like that, so we really wanted to go out and prove that we were the better team,” Jordan said.
Jordan finished the night with 18 points, nine of which came from three pointers. Of those threes included the first basket of the night only 14 seconds into the game to set the tone and the last basket of the first half with only two seconds left to put the Knights up 33-32 at the break. Jordan backed up his scoring with eight rebounds, one steal, and one big block on Coleman that energized the team and the fans.
A.J. Rompza led the Knights with a game high 10 assists while Keith Clanton added 10 boards equaling Houston’s Kendrick Washington game high in rebounds. The Knights defense did a strong job most of the game as well, holding Coleman to only 8-24 from the field, even though they struggled when he charged the basket as he made it to the foul line a game high 11 times finishing with eight points off free throws.
In a game where the lead changed 18 times it was fitting that it came down to the last shot, and when the Cougars’ Adam Brown missed his three-pointer at the buzzer that would’ve tied the game up the UCF Arena erupted with cheers.
The win marks the first time the Knights have swept Houston since entering Conference USA in 2005. With the win, The Knights move to 13-12 overall and 5-6 in Conference USA as the Cougars fall to 13-12 overall and 5-6 in Conference USA.
The Knights next game will be Friday at the Southern Miss Golden Eagles at 8:00 pm, followed by a return to the UCF Arena Wednesday February 24th to face the UAB Blazers.
