UCF held off
a late Illinois rally at CFE Arena, winning 68-58 and advancing to the NIT Final Four.
Alicia Keys’ and Frank Sinatra’s signature New York City ballads played when the final buzzer sounded during the UCF basketball team’s 68-58 win over Illinois at sold-out CFE Arena Wednesday.
Most considered this to be a rebuilding year under first-year coach Johnny Dawkins. Instead, the Knights are headed to the Big Apple to play in the program’s first NIT semifinal at Madison Square Garden.
“I was just amazed at CFE today and how incredible our environment was,” Dawkins said after fans stormed the court to celebrate the Knights’ win. “The student section was off the charts, the community and everyone came out and we couldn’t have done it without them. That energy they gave us was amazing. I could see our players feeding off it.
“What a special atmosphere, what a special night for the Orlando community and UCF.”
An announced crowd of 10,011 that consisted mostly of UCF fans — and a special appearance from Illinois football coach Lovie Smith — came out to witness the Knights’ historic run.
UCF has won past nine of its past 10 games and tied the record set during the 2004-05 season for most victories in school history (24).
Even though the Knights were seeded lower at No. 4, they were
considered four-point favorites headed into their contest with the No. 2 Fighting Illini.
On Monday night, UCF knocked out the final NIT No. 1 seed, Illinois State, on the road during a last-second thriller.
The Knights fought through another near nailbiter Wednesday night after seeing their double-digit lead whittled down by Illinois’ Malcolm Hill during the final four minutes.
Hill hit a long jumper to first cut UCF’s lead by nine. Then the Knights’ A.J. Davis fouled Hill twice on 3-point attempts to make it a sixpoint game.
But Davis and B.J. Taylor did some damage from the free-throw line late in the game to stave off an Illinois comeback. The two combined to hit 8 of 10 free throws in the final minute.
Four UCF players finished in double figures, led by B.J. Taylor’s 17 points. Davis and senior guard Matt Williams scored 16 points apiece.
“When I got here, we were just building, building, building," said Davis, who transferred from Tennessee two years ago. “I always had those visions of when we played in the tournament [at Tennessee] and what that was like and how it felt and I always wanted to get back to that.
“I didn’t know if it would happen while I was here, but I wanted everybody here to get that feeling eventually and Coach Dawkins has made that happen.”
UCF was able to neutralize Illinois early in the game by making the Illini a onedimensional team, settling for outside shots as players struggled to muscle past Tacko Fall, who posted a double double, and break past some perimeter traps against the Illini’s Maverick Morgan.
Illinois didn’t score its first layup until the final two minutes of the first half.
“I knew it was gonna take an adjustment for our guys,” Illinois coach Jamall Walker said. “We just had to withstand the storm and we knew it was gonna be sold out, it was the first. … We ran into an emotional group of people and fans. I hope our guys take note of the fun this place can be . ... That environment was instrumental in how we played today.”
UCF will play TCU in the NIT Final Four Tuesday at Madison Square Garden. The championship game is set for March 30.
“Winning has really meant a lot to them,” Dawkins said of his UCF players. “They really wanted to go out there and represent our community, represent UCF and I love that about them.”