The No. 1 Houston Cougars traveled to Orlando to take on the UCF Knights on Wednesday night. Coming in, Houston had an awe-inspiring 26-3 record as they are undoubtedly the best team in the entire nation. The Knights were bound to have quite the battle on their hands.
Recap
The game started as a rollercoaster as the Knights jumped out to an early 8-2 lead in the first half, which was then erased a couple of minutes later as they held a 12-11 lead.
At the close of the initial 16 minutes in the first half, UCF had committed three turnovers, coupled with a scoring drought dating back to the 11-minute mark. A lot of sloppy play on both ends had both teams fuming yet still in control of their destiny in this game.
The first timeout came with a minute and eight seconds left as Houston’s Kelvin Sampson burned a timeout as his team was down 27-28. At the end of the first half, the UCF Knights were up 31-28 against the number 1 team in the entire country. The player of the first half would be Darius Johnson as he tallied 10 points, four rebounds, and a steal to go along with a +7 rating. UCF shot 50% from long range and the field along with 63.6% from the charity stripe.
Houston, on the other hand, shot an abysmal 18.2% from the arc along with a miserable 37.5% from the field. The Cougars were going to have to find some way to get out of this slump if they were going to want any chance of coming back in this game. Sure enough, Sampson figured out a way to get his guys back on track for the second half.
The second half started rather bleak for both the UCF offense and defense as they gave up a 7-0 run and allowed Houston to have their first lead of the entire game.
Houston burst out of the gate on fire, sinking four of their last five shots and stifling UCF’s offense for nearly three minutes. The Cougars exhibited precision in their shooting, drew fouls, and executed flawlessly, as they dominated the game as eight minutes elapsed in the second half. Meanwhile, the Knights tried to devise a strategy to halt the Cougars’ momentum while elevating their intensity.
Middle of the way through the second half, Houston had a five-point lead as they lead the Knights 51-46 with nothing going right for the Knights.
As the four minute mark hit, the Knights’ crowd roared and roared, forcing Coach Sampson of Houston called a timeout. That didn’t stop Houston from firing right back as near the three minute mark, Houston went up 60-50 over UCF.
With less than two minutes remaining, the Knights started to mount a comeback, as they narrowed the deficit to just four points against Houston. The roaring energy from the Knights’ crowd and the team itself created an atmosphere that was incredibly challenging for the opposition. From the onset of the game, this passionate fan base had transformed the arena, making the intensity feel like a decisive game seven of the NBA Finals.
UCF maintained a lead throughout the entire game until approximately 12 minutes remained when suddenly everything began to unravel. Turnovers piled up, and the team struggled to recover from relentless setbacks. Despite their efforts, the Knights succumbed to a 67-59 defeat against the top-ranked Houston Cougars. Shooting a lackluster 30% from beyond the arc and 45.5% from the field, the Knights faced challenges in finding their offensive rhythm.
UCF’s own Darius Johnson was asked about late-game execution: “Comes down to leadership, taking care of the ball, we have to start putting our teammates in better positions”.
Houston finishes their season at home against No. 14 Kansas in hopes of keeping their No. 1 ranking through March Madness.
Meanwhile, UCF takes on TCU on the road on March 9th for the final game of the season.