Green Jr.’s 18 points lead team in tight win
UCF sophomore Darin Green Jr. posted 18 points as UCF narrowly beat Tulane 53-49 on Friday night.
Darius Perry had 14 points and six rebounds for UCF (6-10, 4-9 American Athletic Conference). C.J. Walker added four blocks. Isaiah Adams had eight rebounds.
Tulane went on a 10-0 run to give the Green Wave a 40-32 lead with 14 minutes remaining, but UCF countered with a 10-0 run of its own. The Knights’ defense locked down, forcing Tulane to miss its final seven shots to help seal the win. The Green Wave scored a season-low 19 secondhalf points.
Green credited coach Johnny Dawkins for helping the team navigate adversity.
“Like Coach says, when you fall down, you’ve got two choices — you can stay down or get back up. I think we’re going to choose to get back up,” Green said.
Jaylen Forbes had 14 points and eight rebounds for the Green Wave (8-8, 3-8). Jordan Walker added 14 points.
“Our defense was really good in the second half, it was solid and we’ve really been preaching that,” Dawkins said. “The last three games we’ve been holding opponents down, and that’s UCF basketball. We’ve been defending like we want to, and everyone gave great effort tonight.”
Green said the Knights are capable to living up Dawkins’ defensive expectations.
“It’s all mental — you have to want it on defense,” Green said. “We talked about it at halftime. We came down and locked in and stopped them.”
UCF is going for the season sweep over Cincinnati Sunday after winning the previous matchup in Orlando. The teams last played each other on Dec. 22, when the Knights created 19 Cincinnati turnovers and turned the ball over just eight times on the way to a five-point victory. The game in Cincinnati tips off at 1 p.m. and will be streamed on ESPN+.