UCF repeated its final second victory against Houston Sunday afternoon when freshman B.J. Taylor sunk a two-pointer off the glass with 2.7 seconds to go.
Taylor finished the game with only five points chalked up in 34 minutes but his second field goal of the night would be enough break the heart of the Houston bench.
“I hadn’t been playing well in the game, so I was just thinking, ‘man, I’ve got to do something for them tonight’,” said Taylor after the game. “I’ve got to make up something to help the team win.”
UCF’s Staphon Blair took the lead on the court after tipoff, scoring 6 out the Knight’s first 11 points with two lay-ups and a fast break dunk.
Sophomore Brandon Goodwin drew in the first buzzer beater against Houston in the previous matchup, on Jan. 6, scoring 13 points that night and the last 3-pointer for the win. In Sunday’s he game logged 14 points and 7 assists as well as three steals and two turnovers.
Neither the Cougars nor Knights gave enough ground for more than an 8 point lead, going the last 9 minutes with six points scored total from both teams. The dry spell continued before Taylor would break the tie and allow the UCF to close out a win.
“I just felt in my heart that putting the ball in his hands down the stretch that they weren’t expecting that, it was all misdirection” said head coach Donnie Jones. “He did a great job. He’s very strong for a freshman and he’s able to finish one-on-one. He made a great play.”
UCF improves to (11-13, 4-9) with the victory, sitting in the seventh seed in the conference with only five games left in the regular season.
The next match will be played at Tulane on Thursday, Feb. 19 at 7 p.m. Last time out they beat the Green Wave in triple-overtime 103-100.
