The UCF Men’s Basketball team rollercoaster ride season will continue into the postseason as the Knights accepted a bid to compete in the College Basketball Invitational.
UCF will lace up their sneakers one more time as they host St. Bonaventure in a first round matchup Wednesday at 8 p.m.
“We’re excited,” UCF coach Donnie Jones said in a press release. “There’s a couple hundred teams who are probably wishing they were getting a chance to play. It’s great for our program and to have an opportunity to host a game is really exciting for our fans.”
The Knights started off the season a perfect 14-0, including big wins over the nationally ranked Florida Gators and the Miami Hurricanes, before losing eight straight conference games, which essentially eliminated them from the NCAA Tournament.
However, UCF continued their streakiness, winning five out of their last seven games, including victories over top Conference-USA opponents. In the C-USA tournament, they fell short in a first round matchup against East Carolina, which officially removed them from the Big Dance.
Still, the Knights had a strong RPI rating and finished with a 19-11 record, which earned them a bid into the CBI Tournament.
The College Basketball Invitational is in its fourth year and features a 16-team field of teams that miss the NCAA Tournament and NIT. The CBI championship is a best-of-three format.
The CBI is welcome news for UCF as six teams who played in the tournament last season made it to this year’s NCAA Tournament. It also gives the Knights another chance to play in front of the UCF faithful as the game will be played at the UCF Arena. The Knights demolished school attendance records this season after their strong start propelled them into the national rankings.
The Knights will have a tough task at hand as they face a good St. Bonaventure team, who is part of the Atlantic 10 Conference. The Bonnies finished the season 16-14, including an upset victory over St. Johns, who is a sixth seed in the NCAA tourney.
The Bonnies will bring a competitive team to Orlando as they feature one of the better players in the nation in 6-foot-9 power forward Andrew Nicholson, who ranks 15th in the nation in scoring with 20.8 points per game.
“We played St. Bonaventure last year when I was at Marshall,” Jones said in a press release. “Their big kid Nicholson is very talented. He’s averaging over 20 points a game. He’ll be one of the best bigs we’ll go against all season long.”
This is the fifth postseason appearance for the Knights and first since 2005. If the Knights advance, they will face the winner of the Miami (Ohio) vs. Rhode Island game next Monday.
UCF has been playing well as of late with wins over UTEP, Tulsa and Southern Miss, who make up three of the top five teams in the conference. The Knights have also seemed to gel recently, showing poise in the second half of games by holding on to leads and the ability to overcome deficits.
The matchup between the Knights and Bonnies is relatively even as St. Bonaventure averages 70.1 points per game to UCF’s 69.1. The Knights hold the edge on defense, only allowing 63 points per game, while the Bonnies allow 70 points per contest.
Fortunately for the Knights, they will play in front of an energized home crowd, where they have a stellar 13-4 record. The Bonnies are 6-8 on the road this season.
Students can purchase tickets at the UCF Ticket Office or online at UCFAthletics.com.
