The short handed UCF men’s basketball team won its exhibition game on Saturday night against West Virginia Tech 81-66 at the UCF arena amid possible NCAA violations that could have seniors A.J. Rompza and Jeffrey Jordan in trouble.
Junior forward Keith Clanton led the Knights with a game-high 28 points and 15 rebounds. Returning sophomore Isaiah Sykes stepped in to fill the point guard position and finished two assists shy of a triple-double. Skyes finished with 18 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists with zero turnovers.
The athletic sophomore really showed that he can distribute the ball and create open shots for others, while Clanton looked in better shape than ever, playing 37 out of 40 minutes.
UCF also had some very promising play from newcomers Rod Days and Tristan Spurlock. Days, who finished with 15 points on five-of-11 shooting, is a 6’6’’ freshman guard who can play either the two or three spot. Spurlock had a rough night from behind the arc, going one-of-eight, but he finished with 16 points and seven rebounds.
Head coach Donnie Jones was proud to see his team step up and get a win, despite missing five key players.
“Throughout the season, your team is gonna have times where different guys are injured, hurt or out or whatever it may be,” Jones said after the game. “As I’ve told this team from day one, we are very deep and we have got a lot of different pieces, and I think that showed tonight.”
The Knights got off to a slow start in the first half, and even trailed the Golden Bears 14-12 midway through the first half. Then the Knights went on a 13-0 run and, despite eight turnovers, finished the first half up 35-29. Clanton had 17 points and nine rebounds by halftime.
The second half was when the Knights were able to take care of the ball and create better shots. They only turned the ball over four times in the second half, while forcing West Virginia Tech to commit 10 turnovers.
UCF led the whole second half, but it looked like the Golden Bears might tie the game with eight minutes remaining in the game. The Golden Bears got within two points, but weren’t able to take the lead.
With five minutes remaining in the game, Days ignited the crowd with a fast-break dunk that gave the Knights a 69-58 lead. That play seemed to take the heart out of West Virginia Tech. UCF went 15-of-31 from the field, and 13-of-18 from the free-throw line in the second half to secure the win.
There were times when West Virginia Tech went on small runs, but coach Jones didn’t call a timeout because he wanted to see how his team would handle to pressure.
“I wanted guys to push through it. Learn to play through a little fatigue and learn to play through a little adversity early on,” Jones said. “I thought it was good for those guys to kind of play through a little adversity, and we did. We battled through it and found a way to win it at the end.”
Prior to the game, UCF announced that seniors A.J. Rompza and Jeff Jordan will be withheld from competition indefinitely due to NCAA eligibility issues. They will be sitting out until the NCAA issues a ruling on this matter.
Marcus Jordan, P.J. Gaynor and Josh Crittle also sat out for violating team rules. They are expected to be back in action for next week’s game.
UCF will host St. Thomas University next Saturday at the UCF arena for the first regular season game. Game time is set for 5 p.m.
