ORLANDO, FEB. 13, 2019 – Tacko Fall scored 21 points and grabbed nine rebounds and UCF snapped USF's five-game winning streak with a 78-65 victory Wednesday evening at CFE Arena.
David Collins (Youngstown, Ohio) scored 20 points for his fourth consecutive game with at least 20 points.
Justin Brown (Birmingham, Ala.) added 12 points and made three 3-pointers, and
Laquincy Rideau (West Palm Beach, Fla.) finished with 10 points, five assist and five steals.
UCF (18-5, 8-3) scored the first 13 points of the game and held USF without a field goal until the 14:26 mark of the first half when
T.J. Lang (Mobile, Ala.) hit a three-pointer to cut the Knights' lead to 13-4.
B.J. Taylor gave UCF its largest lead of the first half with two free throws at the 3:37 mark to put the Knights ahead 33-14. A basket from
Alexis Yetna (Paris) and a three-pointer by Brown in the final two minutes pulled USF within 10 points, 35-25, with 59 seconds before halftime. Yetna had a game-high 12 rebounds in his return from a two-game absence due to injury.
UCF used one free throw and a three-pointer from Terrell Allen at the buzzer to push its lead back to 14 at halftime. The Bulls shot just 28.6 percent from the field and 18.2 percent from three-point range in the first half.
UCF lead by as much as 26 points in the second half and shot 61.1 percent from the field in the final 20 minutes. USF closed the game on an 8-1 run to trim the margin to 13 points.
Quotable
Gregory on Wednesday's test against UCF:
"Give them credit, they outplayed us. It was the first time all year where we haven't responded as well as we have been."
"When you're on the road, playing against an NCAA tournament team, which Central Florida is, I don't think anybody can question that, you've got to play better and you've got to do a lot of the little things. You've got to make your free throws. You can't turn the ball over for pick-6s, as we call them, and that's what they got off it. Give them credit."
Gregory on turning the page to Saturday's home game against Temple:
"We have to play very well on Saturday because Temple obviously is one of the top four teams in the league, so we have to play well. It's important that we bounce back and play with the energy level and the intensity, and the toughness that we've kind of started to build our brand on a little bit."
Key Stats
54.5 – UCF shot 54.5 percent from the field and limited USF to 36.8 percent.
44 – UCF attempted 44 free throws and made 25. USF attempted just 27 free throws.
19 – UCF scored 19 points off USF turnovers.
Notable
- David Collins registered his fourth consecutive games with at least 20 points.
- Alexis Yetna grabbed 12 rebounds in his first game back from injury.
- Laquincy Rideau scored 10 points and needs 12 more points for 1,000 in his career.
Up Next
The Bulls continue league play Saturday at 6 p.m. when the Bulls host Temple on ESPNU at the Yuengling Center.
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About USF Men's Basketball
The USF men's basketball team is led by head coach Brian Gregory. On March 22, 2017, Gregory was introduced as the 10th head coach in program history. He previously led programs at Georgia Tech (2011-16) and Dayton (2003-11). Gregory spent nearly a decade as an assistant coach under Michigan State's Hall of Fame head coach Tom Izzo and helped the Spartans win the 2000 NCAA National Championship. Gregory brings nearly 250 career head coaching wins and six postseason appearances, including the 2010 NIT Championship, to Tampa. In his first season at the helm of the Bulls, Gregory led the team to its first 10-plus win season since 2013-14.
USF has retired three numbers in its 47-year history: Chucky Atkins (12), Charlie Bradley (30) and Radenko Dobras (31). The Bulls have earned three NCAA tournament bids and appeared in the NIT eight times.
For tickets, contact the USF Ticket Office at 1-800-Go-Bulls or by going online to USFBullsTix.com.
