Written by Nate Hill.
The Knights fell to LSU in a close game to finish off their exhibition games with a final score of 75-68.
UCF started strong, shooting great throughout the first half. The knights were able to shoot 53% from 3, scoring a total of 36 points.
Defensively, UCF was playing solid, holding LSU to just 30% from 3 and 40% from the field.
The first half would end with a score of 29-36 in favor of UCF.
Starting the second half, UCF was hanging onto a small lead but had strong momentum. They wouldn’t hang on long, though, as coming out of the half, LSU was ready to work.
The Tigers would go on to shoot almost lights out going on a 10-0 run and going up by 8 with 13:39 left in the half. UCF’s defense was nowhere to be seen, allowing LSU to shoot 60% from 3 and giving up multiple and 1 opportunities.
For the rest of the game UCF would trade back points keeping the game within 6.
UCF would finish the game 26/61 from the field and 10/29 from 3, LSU would also finish with the same amount of shots made shooting 26/55 and 10/29 from 3.
This begs the question: how did UCF lose this game? Free throws. UCF was unable to make free throws throughout the entire game, finishing the game 6/12 from the line. In a game where you lose by 7 points, you can’t miss 6 free throws, let alone shoot 50% from the line.
The Knights will begin non-conference play on November 3rd for their season opener against Hofstra at Addition Financial Arena.
