It was senior night at CFE Arena, but it was UCF’s highly touted freshman Tacko Fall that fueled the Knights to a 73-65 victory over the Tulane Green Wave.

Fall filled up the stat sheet Wednesday night, pouring in 17 points, pulling down 13 rebounds and also blocking five shots. The 7 foot 6 big mans skills have clearly progressed throughout the season, as he has been on a tear the last two games, averaging 15 points, 13.5 rebounds and five blocks.

“Now we’re learning how to play with Tacko, and Tacko is learning how to play with the other guys,” UCF head coach Donnie Jones said.

UCF (12-16, 6-11) felt the usual emotions of senior night early on against Tulane (10-20, 3-14), as the Knights started the game with 10 turnovers in the first 10 minutes of the game. The offensive troubles that have plagued UCF throughout this season, continued at the onset.  At the nine minute mark in the first half, the Knights found themselves trailing 21-9.

“Tulane came out with a lot of energy,” Jones added. “I was really proud of how we calmed down and battled our way back into this game.”

The comeback was led by Fall, who made easy work of multiple Tulane defenders throughout the night. Fall was a perfect eight for eight from the field in the game, as his play is certainly booming coming down the stretch. UCF was able to finish the half on a 24-11 run, and went into the locker room up 33-32.

“My teammates have shown a lot of confidence in me,” Fall said. “We learned how to play together, and I just go out there and play hard.”

The second half was all UCF, as Daiquan Walker and Adonys Henriquez took over where Fall left off. The senior, Walker, scored a game-high 20 points, while also dishing out five assists. Henriquez chipped in 16 points to round out the Knights in double figures.

Walker seems to love playing Tulane, as he had his career high 33 points against the Green Wave in their first matchup, Feb. 4. As it stands currently, UCF would be slotted to play Tulane for a third time in the opening round of next week’s American Athletic Conference Tournament.

“I just want to go out there and be aggressive,” Walker said. “I just take what the defense gave me, and everything was just clicking right.”

Playing in their final home games for the Black and Gold, big men Shaheed Davis and Staphon Blair both got the start for Donnie Jones. Blair had four points and six rebounds, and Davis pulled down four rebounds of his own.

UCF wraps up the regular season on Sunday, March 6 at UConn, before returning to Orlando to “host” the conference tournament at the Amway Center beginning March 10.