Knights still seeking first win at Golden Hurricane
The UCF men’s basketball team was on a run that was going to eradicate 10 games — and nearly 40 years — of frustration in Tulsa.
Once trailing by 13 points with less than eight minutes to play on Saturday, the Knights had pulled back to within 53-51 with three minutes left. But they squandered their opportunity to get over that hill, and then Lawson Korita basically told the Knights to wait until next year.
The Golden Hurricane senior hit two big shots down the stretch, and turnovers kept UCF from counter-punching. The result was a 65-54 loss for the Knights.
UCF is 0-11 at Tulsa in a series that dates to 1981. They are 14-14 overall and 5-11 in the American Athletic Conference. The Golden Hurricane improved to 20-9 overall and are in first place in the AAC at 12-4.
Twenty turnovers led directly to 27 Golden Hurricane points, but no giveaway was more costly than the one that took place at the 2:57 mark of the second half. The Knights had the ball and hope after looking like a lost cause a few minutes earlier. But a turnover by guard Dazon Ingram led to a long Tulsa possession that concluded with Korita, Tulsa’s most accurate 3-point shooter at 37.7%, getting an open look from the right wing.
He didn’t miss it.
“He shouldn’t have been open for that look that he got,” UCF coach Johnny Dawkins said in a radio interview after the game. “It was a late clock, and we should have been up a little closer to him. We had discussed that all during our prep for this game. I think we just fell asleep on it for that split second.”
Although guard Brandon Mahan would follow that basket by making three free throws, Korita responded again with a jumper to push UCF’s deficit back to four, 58-54, with about 100 seconds remaining.
Another UCF turnover on the ensuing possession pretty much deflated what had been an energetic bunch of Knights for the previous six minutes. Tulsa scored the game’s final nine points.
“We weren’t as sharp as we needed to be,” Dawkins said. “We did that throughout the game, where we got a little bit loose with the basketball, a little too casual. You can’t play against that defense casual, and unfortunately, that’s what we did a good portion of this evening.”
However, Dawkins was pleased with the fight his team displayed. Consider the circumstances: The Knights were traveling to a personal house of horrors just a few days after losing by 16 at Connecticut. Tulsa’s matchup zone stifled their offense for most of the night. They eventually found themselves trailing 51-38 with 7:55 remaining in their last road game of the regular season and on senior night in a city where they had never won.
But UCF did not go quietly. Three-point baskets from Mahan and guard Darin Green Jr. were part of a 13-2 run that got the Knights right back into the ballgame.
If only the Knights could piece together runs like that more often, they wouldn’t be sitting 10th in the conference with two games remaining.
“We just haven’t had the consistency that I would want from my team. I think tonight kind of exemplified that,” Dawkins said. “We had moments where we played terrific basketball, but it wasn’t consistent. I talked to our guys at the end of the game about standings how we played the last eight minutes; that’s how we have to be for 40 minutes.”
Mahan has definitely had his ups and downs this season, but he scored nine of his team-high 15 points during the game’s final five minutes. Despite shooting just 27% from 3-point range coming in, he made four of six shots from beyond the arc Saturday.
Korita celebrated Tulsa’s senior night with 20 points to lead all players. He tallied eight points in the final 2:28.
UCF will now return home for its final two games of the regular season. Their penultimate game will come Wednesday against the SMU Mustangs (19-8, 9-6). Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.