Knights recover from loss to Mizzou, win big
The UCF men's basketball team needed a performance that would wash away the bad taste left behind by their loss at Missouri last weekend.
The Knights took out their frustration Saturday, rolling to a 70-45 romp over Grambling State
UCF (7-2) hasn't posted a larger margin of victory in a game since December 2016.
“In the last game against Missouri, we didn't have the same energy and effort for two halves that we need to,” UCF senior guard B.J. Taylor said. “This game, a big thing for us was making sure we came out in the second half with the same energy and kind of hit them in the mouth.”
The defensive energy was evident throughout as the Knights limited the Tigers to just 29.3 percent shooting for the contest, including 22.9 percent in the second half.
“It makes me happy when we guard like we did today,” head coach Johnny Dawkins said.
In that defeat last Sunday at Missouri — a two-point loss in overtime after UCF had given up a game-tying 3-pointer at the end of regulation — the Knights surrendered numerous offensive rebounds that led to second-chance points. They have since spent a lot of time working to improve their rebounding, and the results showed.
Although Grambling entered the day among the nation's top 25 in defensive rebounding, UCF won the battle on the boards 47-33, including 13-12 on the offensive glass.
Center Tacko Fall pulled in eight rebounds, but he shared the top spot with guard Aubrey Dawkins, who also secured eight boards. Taylor and guard Frank Bertz recorded five rebounds each.
“I think when you become a good rebounding team,” coach Dawkins said, “it's because your guards are really good rebounders.”
Dawkins has guards who are also really good scorers. Taylor paced the Knights with 21 points. Aubrey Dawkins was the only other Knight in double figures with 11 points, but seven of them came at an early stage in the second half when UCF put the game out of reach.
The Knights came out of halftime with a 30-23 lead that was built up in large part by accurate free-throw shooting late in the opening 20 minutes. Then, starting at the 17:25 mark of the second half, they went on a 14-2 run that was highlighted by back-to-back 3-pointers from Taylor and Dawkins. By the end of the spurt more than six minutes later, UCF's lead had grown to 46-29. That advantage would reach as much as 27 points and would not fall below 14 for the rest of the game.
Bertz contributed eight points as a reserve, but two of them came on an authoritative put-back dunk that saw him soar through the air to collect a missed shot and slam it home in one fluid motion.
“To bring that spark off the bench, it's a great feeling, honestly,” the junior said of his highlight-reel jam.
Bertz, a junior-college transfer from Los Angeles, is mainly tasked with providing energy for the Knights on both ends of the floor. He didn't enroll until August, so the team is still discovering his strengths and weaknesses. But it's already clear that Bertz will give it his all when his number is called.
“He's gonna play hard everywhere,” Taylor said of Bertz. “No matter how many minutes he gets, he's going to come in and play hard. He's going to bring energy and he's going to compete. That's the biggest thing about him when he comes into the game. He's not going to back down.”
This win allowed the Knights to move on from the Missouri loss, but they don't plan to forget about it entirely.
They know that they will be back in tight situations at points later on this season. Coach Dawkins said there were lessons to be learned from what happened last Sunday.
Taking what they learned and applying them — especially in the areas of rebounding and defense — made the Knights a better team Saturday.
“Any time you take a loss like that, it's tough and it's going to knock you back some,” Dawkins said of the Missouri game. “But our guys, I thought they responded well.
“We beat a tonight.”
The Knights will be back on their home floor Tuesday at 7 p.m. against the Georgia Southern Eagles. good team