After a nearly three hour contest, UCF edged out a win against the Tulane Green Wave Wednesday night in the season’s first triple overtime, holding a 103-100 score in the final seconds to secure the win.
A history of dropped games when playing UCF didn’t stop Tulane from putting up a fight, as the game saw 18 ties and 23 lead changes. UCF performed better when it came to free throws and field goals, making 52% in the field and 58% from the line, but lost possessions and an inability to stop several 3-pointers from cutting down the Knights’ lead after regular play allowed Tulane to stay alive three overtimes too long.
Before the game’s end, UCF’s Adonys Henriquez and Brandon Goodwin had a combined game time of 98 minutes, with B.J. Taylor close behind both players at 44 minutes. The hero in the match against Houston, Goodwin logged 18 points for the night and 4 assists. Stephon Blair notched his first career double-double with 13 rebounds and 15 points, while going 6-for-6 in the paint, not to mention a few blocks and dunks to get the crowd on their feet. Taylor notched a career high 33 points, going 9 for 10 at the free throw line and making 8 of 9 points tallied in the third overtime to put UCF ahead.
“Honestly, I don’t even feel tired,” Taylor said following the game. “The adrenaline was going and in a game like that and you’re a competitor, all you want to do is win. You don’t feel tired. In a game like that you just keep playing.”
In total, four Tulane players fouled out, making 20 of their teams’ 30 personal fouls, versus the Knights’ 16. Tulane’s 8 fast breaks and 45 rebounds challenged UCF but several critical plays made in the paint gave the Knights the win.
Met with an active and packed student section, UCF continued an impressive all-time series record of 9-2 against Tulane with the win, while also improving their perfect home record to 5-0 when facing the Green Wave at home.
“I definitely give the student section credit. It’s great to see the students there. I hope they’re watching me [in this interview]. I don’t know what we can do to get them here every night. Hopefully, we can give them that type of excitement every night that will make them want to come back,” UCF head coach Donnie Jones said. “They gave our guys energy and makes the student-athletes feel good when they see their own sitting in the stands cheering for them, we appreciate them being here.”
American Athletic Conference play will continue when UCF flies to Tennessee to face Memphis Saturday at 2 p.m.
