Taylor lifts Knights to a win
UCF faced an eight-point deficit in the second half and was coping with more injury issues.
Those hurdles meant nothing to UCF point guard
Taylor hit 10 of 11 free throws on his way to 25 points and dished out five assists to help UCF rally for a 71-69 victory over USF in Tampa Saturday.
Taylor, playing in his second game for the Knights (13-6, 4-3 American Conference) after returning from a foot injury that had sidelined him since the season opener, hit 3 of 4 free throws in the final 23 seconds to help keep the Bulls (7-13, 0-7) winless in conference play.
added 13 points and 10 rebounds for his second double-double of the season for UCF, which shot 53 percent (26 of 49) from the floor but just 59 percent (13 of 22) from the foul line.
“With the injuries, we needed guys to step up and be a little bit better, and I think everyone was,” UCF coach Johnny Dawkins said after the game.
Taylor and Brown helped offset the absence of
who has been a key leader with Taylor out for an extended period, and
a game-changing center who is out with a shoulder injury.
“Every time we’ve come to this building it’s always been a fight. It’s always been a war, so you have to give a lot of credit to them,” Taylor said after the Knights picked up another win in the War on I-4 series. “We picked up our intensity. We weathered the storm. It showed more maturity from us tonight.”
matched his season high with 21 points to pace USF. added 14 points and five assists, while scored 12. Jiggetts hit two 3-pointers as the Bulls jumped out to a 12-5 lead and his bucket with 4 seconds left gave them a 36-29 lead at halftime. South Florida maintained a second-half lead until Taylor scored five straight points to even the score at 56 with 5:49 left to play. Taylor followed a 3-point play with a 3-pointer and then picked up an assist on Brown’s 3-point play to cap a 9-0 run that gave the Knights a 67-59 lead with 1:11 left to play. USF got no closer than two the remainder of the game.
somehow managed to secure 18 tickets out of Florida State’s visitingteam allotment to take care of various family members who live in Virginia and wanted to come to Saturday’s Florida State-Virginia Tech game.
He also gave them a performance worth remembering. Walker scored a careerhigh 24 points to lead the Seminoles to a 91-82 victory over the Hokies.
Playing in front of numerous family members from Petersburg, Va., and other parts of the commonwealth, Walker came off the bench to hit 8 of 13 from the floor, including four 3-pointers to lift the Seminoles (14-5, 3-4 ACC) to their first league road win of the season.
“They gave me some energy,” Walker said. “I was definitely looking forward to seeing them, but I stayed locked in. I was happy that they came, but I just stayed locked in and continued to play my game.”
added 14 points for the Seminoles, who had lost three of their past four games since upsetting North Carolina in Tallahassee on Jan. 3. finished with 12.
paced the Hokies (13-6, 2-4) with 26 points. Virginia Tech has now lost three straight to Florida State.
The Seminoles led the entire second half. Walker — a freshman who considered Virginia Tech during the recruiting process — gave Florida State its biggest lead when he scored on three straight possessions.
His jumper with 11:57 remaining capped his spurt and gave the Seminoles a 61-47 lead.
“He’s had several good games for us this year, so it’s not unlike him to be able to do that,” Florida State coach
said of Walker.
“I just think today was one of those days where he was focused. The last couple of games that he’s played, he hasn’t been as quite as consistent as he had been.”
Walker later made the biggest play of the game when he made a steal and laid in the ball with 57 seconds left to push Florida State’s lead to 79-70.