Knights’ rally falls short against visiting Cougars
UCF’s B.J. Taylor fell to the ground, grimacing in pain moments after a bonerattling collision with a Houston player. The impact sent the basketball spiraling out of the point guard’s hands and into the waiting arms of the Cougars.
There was no whistle, just another costly turnover.
The play was indicative of the day for the Knights, who fell behind by double digits before rallying to within a basket only to fall 69-65 to Houston Saturday at CFE Arena.
It was just the third home loss this season for UCF (14-8, 5-5 American Athletic Conference), but the second since dropping a 49-38 contest against Cincinnati on Jan. 16.
For Houston (17-5, 7-4 AAC), the win snaps a twogame road losing streak dating to Jan. 14 while strengthening the Cougars’ résumé heading into the final month of the regular season. Houston had lost three of its past four road contests entering Saturday’s game.
Houston guard Rob Gray led all scorers with 20 points while teammate Corey Davis Jr. added 15.
Taylor led UCF with 15 points, 13 of which came in the second half. The junior once again played limited minutes following his Jan. 16 return from a foot injury. He was one of four Knights to record double-figure scoring against the Cougars, joining A.J. Davis (13), Ceasar DeJesus (10) and Dayon Griffin (10).
“They were the aggressive team for the larger part of the game than we were,” UCF coach Johnny Dawkins said following the loss. “In the second half, we ratcheted up some and were able to cut the lead down but give them credit. They came in and right from the tip played a very physical, aggressive ballgame and we have to learn from it.”
Davis, who had 10 rebounds, two blocks and two steals along with his 13 points, added, “I think we came out kind of slow and we were playing catch-up. We played better in the second half, but after trailing in the first it was kind of tough. They made some plays and we didn’t make some plays. It came down to that.”
Houston opened things up by attacking the Knights in the paint, collecting 16 of its 37 first-half points in the middle. The team’s six offensive rebounds led to seven second-chance points and a 37-28 lead at the intermission.
Houston extended the lead to 11 about three minutes into the second half before UCF mounted a furious rally, one that saw the Knights get as close as two points with 2:13 left in the game.
But that would be as close as UCF could get.
Taylor’s effort to tie the game fell short and Cougars forward Devin Davis pushed the lead back up to six points with a layup and a pair of free throws with 34 seconds remaining.
UCF will have to shake off the loss and quickly prepare for a tough game at No. 8 Cincinnati (21-2, 10-0 AAC) on Tuesday.
“As tough as this is, we can’t do anything about what just happened. That’s gone. We have to move forward. We have to move forward with the right mindset starting tomorrow when we get together,” Dawkins said of the loss.
“I think we can take a lot from the second half. We had some opportunities. It was a two-point game. We had our chances to win the game at the end, we just didn’t come through.”