Tourney door might be open for Knights
HOUSTON —College basketball’s biggest games and most important wins come in March.
For the UCF Knights, their March began Saturday with one of the most important and high-profile victories in program history. Behind sophomore forward Collin Smith’s best performance of the season, the Knights defeated the No. 8 Houston Cougars 69-64.
UCF’s win definitely snapped one and possibly two noteworthy streaks. It brought the curtain down on Houston’s nation-leading 33-game home winning streak, but besting a ranked team on the road may also end up being the turning point that gets UCF back to the NCAA tournament for the first time in 15 years.
“We just beat a very good basketball team,” UCF coach Johnny Dawkins. “I was proud of our guys and their effort. I knew it would take a great effort to win in here, and it did.”
The Knights’ first-half effort certainly exceeded what they brought to the floor last month in the first meeting between these two teams. Rather than dig a 15-point halftime hole as it did in Orlando, UCF (22-6, 12-4 American Athletic Conference) trailed by just five at the break this time.
By staying within striking distance, the Knights were able to stick with their game plan of feeding players such as Smith in the post. He responded with a handful of crucial buckets and contributed 14 of his career-high 21 points in the second half.
Smith recorded the baskets that gave the Knights their first lead of the second half and their largest lead of the game — 51-43 — with 10 minutes, 15 seconds remaining. He also made a free throw with 33 seconds left that pretty much sealed UCF’s first road triumph over a top-10 opponent.
“Every now and then you see a young man have a special performance — I thought Collin had one of those tonight,” Dawkins said. “I thought his second-half start was terrific.
“We get a chance to see him in practice every day, so I can see his overall potential. I think [Saturday] it was on display for the world to see.”
The Knights desperately needed Smith to have a highlight-packed showing, especially as top scorers B.J. Taylor and Aubrey Dawkins made only five of 16 field goals.
“The guy that hurt us was Collin Smith,” Houston coach Kelvin Sampson said. “He really played well for them.”
Yet Smith gave all the credit to his teammates after the game, saying they put him in positions to succeed and that he was “just trying to take what the defense gives me.”
UCF’s defense held Houston to just 32.2 percent shooting in the second half, but the Cougars (27-2, 14-2) would not easily let go of their two-yearlong home winning streak. Spurred on by a rash of Knights turnovers, Houston clawed its way back and took a 60-58 advantage with less than two minutes to play.
That’s when Dawkins called a timeout and drew up a play for his son. The coach said all he wanted to give Aubrey Dawkins was “a confident shot.” Right out of the timeout, Dawkins came around a screen, accepted the inbounds pass and drilled a 3-pointer from the corner to give UCF a lead it wouldn’t relinquish.
“He’s done that for us all year,” the elder Dawkins said.
Sampson said UCF’s victory “will get them in the tournament.” While the Knights seem tantalizingly close to realizing that goal, they aren’t ready to start addressing themselves as an NCAA tournament team. They point to the tasks that remain, starting with a matchup versus another ranked opponent.
UCF will host No. 23 Cincinnati on Thursday in what will be the final home game for UCF seniors such as Taylor and center Tacko Fall.
“The job is not done,” said Fall, who finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds. “We still have a lot to play for. … We can’t get too happy.”
Smith echoed those sentiments, using a phrase that became omnipresent last season around the record-setting UCF football team.
“We just want to go 1-0 every single time,” he said.
That is what the Knights did Saturday in Houston. But this one carries a lot more weight.