Knights looking to gain experience
LAKE BUENA VISTA — The University of Nebraska is in town this weekend, but it’s not for what you think.
There will not be any wooing of UCF head football coach Scott Frost. While football has taken Orlando by storm this weekend with the No. 15 UCF versus USF War on I-4 showdown, it’s not the only game in town.
Amid the hoopla, the UCF basketball team will be at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports for the eight-team AdvoCare Invitational, adding to the Thanksgiving weekend sports festivities.
UCF will open the tournament against Nebraska at 6 tonight.
“To actually play on Thanksgiving Day is somewhat unique. … We’re excited,” UCF basketball coach Johnny Dawkins said. “We’re thankful for this opportunity to be able to come out and compete in front of our fans.”
The fans will be glad to know 7-foot-6 center Tacko Fall will be back in action after his missed the first two games of the season while nursing a hip injury. He made his season debut during UCF’s 75-64 victory over William & Mary Saturday.
“It was really good to get Tacko back. I thought when Tacko came back … he responded well,” Dawkins said. “We really wanted to limit his minutes and we ran him to 15 minutes, which I think was enough minutes for him to kind of get his feet wet and I thought he really impacted the game.”
Fall played well, hitting all five of his shots and 3 of 4 free throws, scoring 13 points. He also had seven rebounds and a blocked shot in his limited action.
During the absence of Fall, junior forward Chad Brown saw his role expand a bit and he responded well, with 16 points and eight blocks. The 6-foot-9 Deltona product, however, said it was nice to get his front-court mate back on the floor.
“It was good to have the big fella back, man,” Brown said. “He brings a lot to the team, defensively and offensively, and it’s good to have another presence like that down there with me and Rokas [Ulvydas], as well.”
During its 3-0 start, UCF has been led offensively by sophomore shooting guard Chance McSpadden and senior forward A.J. Davis, who are both averaging 13.3 points a game. The emergence of McSpadden has been key in the absence of injured point guard B.J. Taylor.
While McSpadden’s 3-point percentage (36.4) could be better, the Winter Haven product is still hitting 50 percent from the field and has been a big lift to the UCF offense coming off the bench. Not only has he shot the ball well, but McSpadden, who missed all of last season with an injury, has also shown his ability to rebound. He’s averaging five rebounds and had a career-high eight against Gardner-Webb, and he played a career-high 35 minutes against William & Mary.
UCF and Nebraska (3-1) are in the bracket opposite No. 23 West Virginia and Marist. The winners face off at 5 p.m. on Friday and the losers follow that matchup. Today’s other games are Missouri against Long Beach State (11:30 a.m.) and St. John’s against Oregon State (2 p.m.).
Friday’s early session begins at 11 a.m. The championship game is set for Sunday at 9:30 p.m. (ESPN2).
“There are some really good teams … that’s great for us,” Dawkins said. “We want to be in events like this where we compete against really good talent and we’re looking forward to kind of seeing where we are.”