The Commercial Appeal

Penny Hardaway sees ‘tide turning’

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The senior’s bold statement didn’t bother Hardaway, who is encouragin­g his team to continue to build confidence, even after another loss.

“I see the tide turning, I see everything switching over,” Hardaway said. “I see where we were just trying to do our own thing for a whole season and not buying in, and now, guys are starting to buy in.”

Hardaway’s group charged back from a seven-point halftime deficit to take a 41-40 lead with 14:22 remaining.

In the thick of the Tigers’ 12-4 run to start the second half was Martin, of course, who entered on a scoring tear since the start of February. Martin finished with 25 points and six assists, despite shooting just 3-of-10 in the first half.

The Knights countered with an 11-0 over the next two minutes, extending their lead to as many as 12 before the final buzzer. UCF junior Aubrey Dawkins hit the critical 3-point shot with under two minutes remaining that helped seal the win.

“We made some mistakes at the end, but we’re getting better at the right time

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