Knights prefer to not ride too high entering tourney
COLUMBIA, S.C. — The UCF Knights sat at a long, raised table and answered questions in the face of three large spotlights. Their background said it all: “March Madness.”
These are certainly different surroundings for the Knights, but on the eve of their first NCAA Tournament game in 14 years, their focus is on making their matchup against the VCU Rams as normal and familiar as possible.
“We don’t want to make the game any bigger than it is,” redshirt junior guard Aubrey Dawkins said. “It’s still basketball.”
Dawkins is the only player on the roster who has had NCAA Tournament exposure. The Michigan Wolverines won a tourney game during Dawkins’ sophomore season in 2016. Throughout the week, he has shared whatever knowledge he can about what it’s like to play on the biggest national stage.
Of course, his father and UCF’s coach, Johnny Dawkins, has a wealth of tourney knowledge after making three NCAA Tournament appearances with the Duke Blue Devils. The elder Dawkins was captain of a Duke team that was the national runnerup in 1986.
“Basically, what we try to tell our players is just stay in the moment and enjoy this experience,” he said. “This is something that you should cherish. These are hard to come by. When you have this opportunity, you make the most out of it, so we kind of talked to them that way.”
UCF seniors B.J. Taylor and Tacko Fall know full well how hard it is to make the tournament. They have been trying to will this opportunity into existence for four or five years. Now they have made it, and the duo repeatedly stated Thursday just how happy they are to be here.
But they will try to keep the emotions to a minimum when the bright lights shine inside Colonial Life Arena around 9:40 p.m. on Friday.
“It’s a big deal — we’re not going to downgrade it,” Fall said of the tournament. “We’ve just got to go out there and compete and not let the emotions take over.”
Said Taylor: “We came here not just to show up, but we want to win games. That’s our main focus right now. We’re blessed and honored to be here, [but] our goal isn’t just to be here. We want to make a statement.”
To your health
It’s fair to wonder if UCF would be making its second consecutive NCAA appearance if Aubrey Dawkins, Taylor and Fall had been healthy last season. However, none of them was. Dawkins missed the entire year with a shoulder injury, and Taylor and Fall played exactly one game together due to their own maladies.
Although they have been dinged up — Fall has a sprained right thumb and Dawkins has played through back pain recently — making it through the year without anything debilitating is a measure of good fortune that hasn’t been lost on the Knights.
“To finally be out there and play together, it’s been a blessing,” Taylor said. “It’s been a real joy playing with both these guys.”
Said Johnny Dawkins: “I wish I could explain to you how exciting [staying healthy] has been for us because we’ve battled that a lot. … When we’ve been healthy, we’ve been very competitive.”
Evans to play
VCU point guard and leading scorer Marcus Evans won’t be at full strength when he takes the floor versus UCF. But the most important part for the Rams is that Evans will take the floor.
The junior said Thursday he is feeling better each day as he heals from a hyperextended left knee and bone bruise. He took part in an afternoon practice and said he is moving without much restriction.
“He’s not 100 [percent], but he’s going to give it a shot,” Rams coach Mike Rhoades said of Evans. “We’ll see from there.”