The UCF Knights (13-11) lost against the #10 Iowa State Cyclones (19-5) 77-65 on Tuesday night in Addition Financial Arena. UCF has lost five-straight conference games, making them 4-9 in the Big XII.
“It was a hard-fought game, especially the first half,” UCF Coach Johnny Dawkins said. “We have to do a better job about starting the second half and making sure we’re locked in. That will make it more difficult for teams.”
The Cyclones had seven players with eight or more points, with guard Keshon Gilbert scoring a team-leading 15. For the Knights, junior forward Keyshawn Hall had a game-high 22, with Mikey Williams scoring a career-high 14 as well.
Game flow
On UCF’s first possession, Hall dropped Iowa State’s Joshua Jefferson and sunk a three. This was then immediately matched by the Cyclones with a three of their own.
“Keyshawn is one of our biggest players on the team,” UCF guard Darius Johnson said. “He’s an older guy, he’s a leader, and he’s one of our better players.”
After trading baskets, Williams made back-to-back baskets for the Knights. This did not deter Iowa State, as they scored three-straight three pointers. This put UCF down nine midway through the first half.
However, a Johnson three started a 12-2 run by the Knights. A second Johnson three, a pair of layups by Jordan Ivy-Curry and Hall, and a dunk by Tyler Hendricks gave UCF the lead. This was their first lead since the Hall three in the first minute of the game.
Iowa State was then able to score a three and two layups to recapture the lead, ending the half with a 32-30 lead. This was the third fewest points scored in the first half by ISU all year.
Coming out of halftime, Iowa State picked up the slack. They scored six quick points, leading to a UCF timeout. Hall scored an and-one layup and Williams scored a corner three out of the break, but the Cyclones scored a trey and layup of their own.
“We felt like things that we needed to do to be successful in terms of keeping them out of paint and rebounding were gonna be important,” Iowa State coach T. J. Otzelberger said. “We thought that would ignite our offense, especially in transition. That was the case to start the half we were fortunate to gain a little bit of separation there because of those things and then we’re able to get out and go in transition.”
After working their way back within five points, Iowa State turned on the burners. In the next seven minutes of play, the Cyclones outscored the Knights 17-8 before Coach Dawkins took another timeout.
The highlight during this period, despite the deficit, was Williams. He grabbed his career-high in college in flashy fashion. This game marked the highest minutes he has ever played (27 minutes) at the collegiate level.
“He’s earned it,” Coach Dawkins said. “With me, you get what you earned. I’ve been watching how he’s been practicing. I’ve been watching him in the games he’s been playing recently. You can see he’s starting to come on.”
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Mikey Williams going up for a three-point shot. (Spencer Payne / FL Teams)
The Knights made it interesting with a minute left in the game. Williams hit his second three of the contest, bringing it once again to within single digits. However, Iowa State hit all eight of their free throw attempts, icing the contest.
What went wrong?
The key difference in the game was free throw shooting. In the first half, ISU had four attempts and UCF had three. In the second half, the Cyclones had 15 points on 17 attempts to the Knights’ two points on seven shots.
Both teams shot poorly in the game. UCF shot 41.5% from the field and 23.1% from three. Meanwhile, Iowa State was not much better as they were 45.8% from the field and 25% from beyond the arc.
This loss dropped the Knights to 14th in the Big XII, ahead of only Arizona State and Colorado. Two weeks ago, they were eighth with a record of 4-4. For them to have a shot to make the tournament, they must string together an impressive stretch the next seven games.
UCF has now lost five straight games following tonight’s home loss to Iowa State. Knights looked like a potential First Four contender. Has really struggled the past few weeks.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) February 12, 2025
Next Up
The Knights will look to end their slump against the Colorado Buffaloes (9-15) in Boulder on Saturday. In their last matchup earlier this season, UCF won in a thriller against the Buffaloes.
“They [Colorado] are well-coached,” Coach Dawkins said. “I know they have talent and they made a terrific preseason. They beat Connecticut in the preseason, which is a pretty doggone good program. I know they are capable of beating anyone. And so for us, the main thing we got to do is come out, make sure we start looking at what the game plan is going to be.”
Tip-off against the Buffaloes is at 3:00 PM on Feb. 15.