UCF Knights drop third straight, fall to UConn 67-41

January 31, 2016

A.J. Davis had his worst shooting performance of the season, going 1 for 11 from the field.

It wasn’t a game to write home about for the UCF men’s basketball team. The Knights were never able to get it going against the UConn Huskies, as they dropped their third straight game, 67-41.

UCF (10-8, 4-3) shot a dismal 24 percent from the field, including five for 20 from three-point range. UConn applied heavy defensive pressure right from the tip, and the Knights just had no answer offensively throughout the entire game.

“UConn came out early on and established intensity defensively,” UCF head coach Donnie Jones said. “We just couldn’t score.”

UCF took an early 4-2 lead Sunday night at CFE Arena, but it was all downhill after that. UConn went on a 17-0 run over a seven minute span and UCF was left scrambling the rest of the half.

Matt Williams was the only Knight in double figures, as nobody was able to get into a groove. The normally consistent leader for UCF, A.J. Davis, was one for 11 from the field, and also had four turnovers.

The Knights had 15 turnovers overall, with only six assists. UCF was also outrebounded 41-33.

“It’s not one of those ones [games] where you can feel sorry for yourself,” Jones added. “It’s a confidence factor right now and those guys, as well with all of us, it’s got to be a ‘we’ thing moving forward.”

UConn (14-6, 4-3) was coming off a tough loss to Cincinnati on Thursday, and head coach Kevin Ollie talked about the message he delivered to his team coming into Sunday’s affair with the Knights.

“Good bounce back win for us,” Ollie said. “We worked very, very hard to prepare for this game. We wanted to continue our defensive performance and I think we did that.”

Shonn Miller had 11 points and eight rebounds to lead UConn, while Jalen Adams scored 10 points, with five rebounds and five assists.

For UCF, this marks their third straight loss (75-60 at Tulsa, 97-86 at home to Memphis). The players and coaches stressed the importance of each day at practice, and needing to improve in more areas other than ‘x’s and o’s’.

“The biggest thing is we have to get our confidence based on the way we work,” Jones said. “These guys have to continue to grow trust in each other and how they play together, and I think when it get’s hard sometimes. We don’t trust each other and I think that’s where we have to get better.”

UCF will next travel to New Orleans to take on Tulane (8-15, 1-9) Thursday, Feb. 6 at 8 p.m. EST.