The UCF Knights lost to the Cincinnati Bearcats 93-83 at home on Wednesday night. UCF has now lost five of their last six games and have dropped three straight, including two at home. Meanwhile, Cincinnati snapped a four game losing streak and are now just one game behind UCF in the Big 12 standings.
Bearcats Best UCF in Orlando
Cincinnati guard Day Day Thomas had a season high 20 points, 18 of which came in the first half. He said postgame that he is “just having fun… just playing with confidence.” Jizzle James had eight points with four minutes to go and ended up scoring seven points and finishing with 15, shooting a very efficient 5-of-7 from the field. James wasn’t just scoring down the stretch, but he had steals on back to back possessions in the final minute, giving UCF no chance to gain any momentum. Both steals led to a Dillon Mitchell dunk, who finished with 19 points. Four Cincinnati players finished with double digits while their bench scored 14 of their 16 points in the second half.
Keyshawn Hall had another solid performance for the Knights, leading the team in scoring with 23 points on 8-of-18 shooting. Hall also recorded seven rebounds. Moustapha Thiam had 14 points on 46% shooting, as well as eight rebounds, one steal and one block. Meanwhile, Darius Johnson scored 21 points on 8-of-15 shooting, as well as a team-high six assists. Four of his seven misses were from deep. Benny Williams didn’t see much action but he helped when he could, shooting a perfect 3-of-3 from the field while adding two rebounds, one assist, and a steal.
UCF coach Johny Dawkins spoke postgame following the loss: “It was a disappointing game for us, but a well-played game by Cincinnati… you know, give them credit. I thought they played some of the best basketball I’ve seen them play in scouting them thus far.” Dawkins went on to compliment Thomas and Mitchell.
UCF looks to snap their losing streak on the road at Baylor. Tip-off is on Saturday, Feb. 8, at 2:00 PM.