Knights could rise, fall in AAC in regular-season finale
UCF men’s basketball closes out the regular season today at home against East Carolina and a win is badly needed for Johnny Dawkins’ squad.
The Knights are crawling to the finish line, losing nine of their last 12 games — including Thursday’s 57-55 shortcoming at Temple.
The loss at the Owls was UCF’s 10th by single digits and sixth by a single possession this season. Half of those single-possession losses have come in the last five games.
UCF’s last two victories have come against 5-win Tulsa which has won just once in league play.
A win today would help UCF from a confidence standpoint and seeding in next week’s AAC tournament in Fort Worth, Texas.
The Knights enter the regular-season finale in eighth place in the conference, behind rival USF, which swept them.
A win would move UCF into seventh place and a loss would drop them to ninth, an AAC spokesperson confirmed to the Sentinel.
Moving into seventh place would allow UCF to avoid top-seed Houston in the league tournament if the Knights can advance out of the first round.
A loss to the Pirates would drop UCF to ninth place because ECU would hold the tiebreaker because of its .500 regular-season record vs. Cincinnati. UCF lost both of its games against the Bearcats.
By falling to ninth, the Knights wouldfacetheeighthseedinthefirst roundoftheAACtournament,which could be ECU. If USF falls to Wichita State on Sunday, the Bulls would sit aheadofthePiratesbecausetheywon both games vs. ECU.
The Bulls could end up anywhere from Nos. 6-8.
In addition to potentially having to meet ECU again in the first round, the Knights would have to meet Houston in the quarterfinals the next day.
A win against ECU, however, likely won’t come easy.
In the first meeting between the Knights and the Pirates on Jan. 4,
UCF won on the road 64-61 thanks to CJ Kelly’s 30 points.
History is on UCF’s side. The Knights lead the all-time series with ECU 29-9 and have won the last 15 meetings.
ECU is 3-14 in Orlando and has dropped its last seven games there with its last win coming in 2015.
Still, the Knights will have to improve their rebounding. UCF grabbed just 23 at Temple, the team’s fewest of the season.
It’s an area UCF has recently struggled in. Its three lowest rebound totals have come in the last four games.
UCF was outrebounded 34-23 by the Owls and fell to 3-9 when beaten on the boards. The Knights are 13-4 when grabbing more rebounds than their opponent.