UCF beats No. 3 Kansas 65–60, and Kansas goes flat.
The Knights lost an early lead when Kansas went on a 23-5 run, led by KJ Adams’s hard-charging play and great bench play. As many as 16 points separated the Jayhawks from the other team in the opening half.
“I told our players during the under-4 timeout, ‘We need to get this to 20 and not 10,'” According to KU teacher Bill Self after the game, “I see now I should have told you not to let it get to eight.”
This year’s KU team got much closer than they needed to be, as they often do, and this time they couldn’t save the game with a late comeback.
UCF cut the lead to 37–29, or eight points, by halfway. In the following half, KU’s attack slowed down, hitting only 31.8% as well as turning the soccer ball over on nine occasions.
There were three minutes left when Ibrahima Diallo of UCF made a post fadeaway that broke a 57-57 tie. Hunter Dickinson tried to answer via a hook shot, but it went off.
Actually, the Jayhawks didn’t score again until 16.5 seconds were left. In the end, the Knights made the last two free throws to win 65–60 at Addition Bank Arena on Wednesday night, and fans rushed the court after the final buzzer.
Diallo scored 13 points in the post, but Jaylin Sellers (18 points) or Darius Johnson (17 points) were the Knights’ most reliable scorers against a shaky KU defense.
Dickinson got into a lot of foul trouble and only scored 12 points and grabbed 4 boards in the end. Kansas’ Kevin McCullar Jr. scored 16 points, but they turned the ball over 18 times for the second straight game.
“McCullar said we need to be better about keeping the ball.” “Coach has been stressing that in drills and during today’s game. “We lost the ball a lot, which let the other team score easily.
Sellings made an early corner three-pointer and then rammed home a huge transition dunk. After a slow start, Johnny Furphy helped the Jayhawks turn things around right away with seven of his own.
He made a quick 3-pointer, then came out in front after receiving a Johnson pass to steal it and slam dunk with both hands to give KU its first lead, 9-7.
Parker Braun made a 3-pointer at the buzzer to make the Jayhawks’ lead 17-3. Marchelus Avery then scored from close range to cut the gap to five points.
Nick Timberlake of Kansas tried to take the ball from CJ Walker during a fast break. A fight broke out behind the KU basket, resulting in the ejection of Thierno Sylla from UCF.
When it came to offense, Timberlake made two good layups, and the Jayhawks went up by as many as 16. But Johnson fought hard for an offensive rebound after missing a free throw, which set up Sellers’ 3-pointer, which gave the Knights hope.
Then the Jayhawks’ offense had a rough patch. Omar Payne stopped a Braun layup, and KU gave the ball over three times in a row, which reminded me of how bad they were against TCU.
Johnson’s hard-fought drive at the end of the shot clock, with 30 seconds remaining in the half, ended a 10-0 run. However, McCullar’s deep jump shot shortly before the buzzer gave the Jayhawks a chance to win.
It was Hunter Dickinson’s third foul that sent him to the bench after the break. The Knights got as close as 40–39 on a Sellers corner thanks to a tight UCF zone defense. When the Knights made two free throws, they tied the game. McCullar answered right away with one of the latter to briefly stop them.
UCF went ahead 45–44 with a turnaround jumper by Sellers over Elmarko Jackson. Johnson then made a three-pointer from the left side of the court to make it 67-44 and force KU coach Bill Self to call a timeout.
McCullar mentioned that the team received some easy looks tonight. “We need to get better at keeping the ball in play, jumping to get it, and helping other people out when we’re rotating.”