UCF’s A.J. Davis
Davis helps Knights hold on for victory
gave the Knights just the boost they needed to defeat Nebraska 68-59 Thursday at the AdvoCare Invitational.
LAKE BUENA VISTA — UCF basketball coach Johnny Dawkins got exactly what he needed out of senior guard A.J. Davis at the AdvoCare Invitational.
As UCF continues to find its identity during the early part of the season, Davis provides the Knights with the consistency expected of a three-year starter. Thursday night at HP Field House, Davis was the glue that kept the Knights from unraveling as they held off any hopes Nebraska had of a secondhalf rally to advance in the winners’ bracket with a 68-59 victory.
Davis, who has had his share of big games during his career at UCF, played his most thorough game of the short season on Thanksgiving, and the Knights needed it. Despite trailing by as many as 18 points in the first half, Nebraska made things interesting by pulling within six points late in the second half.
The UCF lull, however, was ended by a Davis 3-pointer with 2:50 remaining and the Knights were able to keep the Cornhuskers at bay from there. Davis ended up with eight points, 10 rebounds, seven assists and three steals to help UCF move to 4-0.
“I was really proud of A.J. … A lot is on his shoulders. He’s like a point-forward for us, so he plays multiple positions,” Dawkins said. “He does whatever I need him to do. … He never blinks. He just says, ‘What do you need from me, Coach?’ and he goes out there and does it.
“He’s stepping up like a senior should when you need him to. He’s making those plays. Whether it’s free throws or shots that you need down the stretch in games, he’s always coming up with one of those for us, so I was really happy with his performance.”
Davis wasn’t the only one stepping up, however, as freshman point guard Ceasar DeJesus had his best game with the Knights, leading the team in scoring with 15 points. DeJesus has played well in place of regular point guard B.J. Taylor, who is still out at least three more weeks with an ankle injury. DeJesus showed more confidence and he pushed the ball to the rim more deliberately against Nebraska.
DeJesus said going on a 19-point run also helped.
“It did a lot for our confidence,” he said. “We just had to stay disciplined and keep playing the game because Nebraska is a good team and they can make a run at any time.”
UCF hit Nebraska with the 19-0 punch in the first half that saw the Huskers go scoreless for a little more than seven minutes. UCF’s big center Tacko Fall started it with a pair of dunks and Djordjije Mumin added a big 3-pointer off the bench. He followed that with two free throws thanks to a technical foul on the Nebraska bench as Huskers coach Tim Miles got fed up with what he was witnessing.
“You just can’t have a dry spell like that,” Miles said. “And then certainly, when things start going poorly on offense. … You have to keep competing hard. … You can’t be sensitive when the ball doesn’t go in the hole.”
Mumin’s five points put UCF up 20-10 and the lead would eventually stretch to 27-12 before Nebraska finally ended its drought with a James Palmer Jr. layup at the 5:51 mark of the first half. Nebraska led the game 10-8 before UCF’s spurt, but the cold stretch allowed the Knights to take a 36-20 halftime lead.
UCF received a big scare in the first half when 7-foot-6 Fall went sprawling to the floor after coming down on teammate DeJesus during a loose-ball scrum under the Nebraska basket. Fall was writhing in audible pain and holding his knee, but he would eventually walk off the floor. After exiting to the locker room briefly, he eventually returned to the game just before halftime.
In other AdvoCare games Thursday:
■ St. Johns 82, Oregon State 77 — Shamorie Ponds had the biggest individual game of the day with a 26-point effort to lead St. John’s. Ponds was 15-for-15 from the free-throw line and added six assists. Oregon State was led by Stephen Thompson Jr.’s 22 points.
■ Missouri 95, Long Beach State 58 — The Tigers had five players in double figures as they coasted past Long Beach. Reserves Jordan Geist (16 points) and Jontay Porter (15 points) led the way. Geist also had seven rebounds.