Written by Sam Foth.
After a home win against the Cincinnati Bearcats, the 13-2 UCF Knights traveled on the road to play the 9-7 Kansas State Wildcats at the Bramlage Coliseum. The Knights would leave Manhattan, KS, victorious after a hard battle.
Heading into the first media timeout, it was clear that this was going to be a close match-up as the score was 9-8 in favor of the Knights with Riley Kugel scoring an early 5 points. The Knights would then go on a 7-2 run, capped by a Themus Fulks to Devan Cambridge alley-oop.
At the eight-minute mark in the first half, the Knights would dominate the Wildcats 29-16. The main factor was the field goal percentage, as UCF was shooting 57% from the field while K-State was shooting 38%. Riley Kugel’s total was up to 10 points.
Going into halftime, the Knights were in command and up 42-28. UCF’s top scorer going into the half was Riley Kugel with 10 points, while K-State’s was Khamari McGriff with 8 points.
The field goal percentage was still the difference maker as UCF was shooting 53% from the field and 40% from three. K-State was shooting 34% from the field and 20% from three. K-State also had 9 turnovers compared to UCF’s 4.
To start the second half, K-State outscored UCF 11-5 thanks to Abdi Bashir Jr. and his two big threes. However, with the lead the UCF built up, the Knights still led 47-39 at the 16-minute mark in the second half.
K-State would continue to have the hot hand as they would bring the deficit to 3 points with UCF leading 55-52 at the 12-minute timeout.
With under 8 minutes to go, the contest would remain tight, but big shots from Themus Fulks and Riley Kugel would keep UCF in front with a score of 68-64.
Despite a big effort from P.J. Haggerty and the Kansas State Wildcats in the second half, the UCF Knights would pull away and come out with an 82-73 win.
Riley Kugel was the top scorer for the Knights, racking in 19 points on 6/11 from the field along with 7 rebounds. Themus Fulks had 12 assists with just one turnover. The top scorer for Kansas State was P.J. Haggerty with 23 points on 9/18 from the field.
The UCF Knights move to 14-2 on the year and 3-1 in conference play, while Kansas State falls to 9-8 overall and 0-4 in conference play.
The UCF Knights face their biggest challenge of the season on Saturday, January 17th at 4:00 PM as they take on the undefeated #1 Arizona Wildcats at Addition Financial Arena.
