The UCF Knights (10-3) fell to the #7 Kansas Jayhawks (10-3) 99-48 on Sunday night in Addition Financial Arena. This marks UCF’s first home loss of the season and makes them 1-1 in conference play to start the year.
“Kansas played a great game,” UCF coach Johnny Dawkins said. “They came in with really good focus. They made a lot of connecting plays, especially offensively. When they didn’t make a play offensively, they did a really good job of getting second and third-chance opportunities.”
This was the worst home loss for the Knights in the program’s 40 year history, with a point margin of -51. This tied the second worst loss in program history, only three points behind their 54 point loss against Florida State in 1988. This loss is also the largest home loss by any team in the history of the Big XII.
“We knew coming in that we lost here last year,” Kansas center Hunter Dickinson said. “We carried that in and took it to heart. We really needed to come out and show everybody why we were the preseason number one team in the country.”
The first half was defined by the Kansas bigs versus those of UCF. Centers Hunter Dickinson and freshman Floury Bidunga scored 28 of Kansas’ 45 points. Meanwhile for UCF, Moustapha Thiam, Rokas Jocius, and Benny Williams combined for zero points in the half.
Dickinson ended the contest with 27 points, good for his fifth most as a member of the Jayhawks. He also recorded a game-high nine rebounds.
“We played harder and hungrier,” Dickinson said. “We dropped our first game in the Big XII and we’re trying to get back in that race and that was a reflection of it.”
Bidunga dropped 12 points and had a six block night, setting a new career-high. One of those blocks was on a jump shot where he tracked the ball and brought it all the way down the court for a dunk.
“That’s probably as athletic a play for us so far this year,” Kansas coach Bill Self said. “To block it, run it down, and to do an inside-out deal, that was pretty good.”
The points in the paint differential was the key for this game, as Kansas had 62 to UCF’s 10. The Jayhawks also had 22 offensive rebounds in the contest, outdoing UCF’s 12.
In total, Kansas had 63 rebounds, while UCF had 32. This mark for the Jayhawks was the most for the team since 2002 and the most ever in a Big XII matchup.
“Missed shots felt like assists today,” Self said. “In the past, we didn’t compete for the rebounds, we basically just gave them to the other team. I thought we rebounded great.”
For the Knights, forward Keyshawn Hall led the team in points, rebounds, and steals. He did this while shooting 23.5% from the field.
“Keyshawn Hall has been a leader,” Dawkins said. “I don’t think that changes. We need to hold each other more accountable as we move forward and we start to work on the fundamentals.”
Next Up
The Knights will have another challenge as they host the Colorado Buffaloes on Wednesday. The Buffaloes have yet to pick up a Big XII win, going 0-2 in their matchups.
“We have to be better,” Dawkins said. “The way we hang our hat, defensively and rebounding, isn’t who we want to be. We have to get back in the gym and start working for what we have to do to be successful in this conference.”
Tip-off against Colorado is at 7:00 PM on Jan. 8.
Other Notes
- Before tonight’s matchup, coach Dawkins was undefeated against Kansas as both a player and coach with a combined 4-0 record.
- Bill Self now has the 26th most wins in college basketball history, passing Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes.
- The win for Kansas evens out the all-time series with UCF at 1-1.