No. 17 Kansas vs UCF: Get to Know the Knights

The Kansas Jayhawks (10-3) are set to begin Big 12 play as they travel to Orlando, Florida, to take on the UCF Knights (11-1) inside the Addition Financial Arena at 1 p.m. CT Saturday (game will be televised on Peacock and NBCSN).

The Jayhawks are coming off a long break with their last game coming on Dec. 22 in a 90-61 win versus Davidson inside Allen Fieldhouse. Meanwhile, UCF has won 10 straight games following their 85-80 win over Florida Atlantic on Dec. 23.

Here are some things to know about the UCF Knights heading into the game on Saturday afternoon.

History

KU leads the all-time series 3-1 dating back to the first matchup in January 2024. The Jayhawks lost the first contest 65-60 in Orlando but have since won the last three – all of which came during the 2024-25 season, including a 99-48 win in Orlando, a 91-87 win in Lawrence, and a 98-94 win in overtime in the 2025 Big 12 Tournament.

Saturday’s matchup marks the third consecutive year that KU will face UCF as their first road Big 12 opponent of the season.

Record

The Knights currently own an 11-1 record this season with the one loss coming against Vanderbilt 105-93 back in early November.

The wins have come against a lackluster schedule of non-conference opponents – the best ones being an 86-74 win at Texas A&M and a 77-67 win over Pitt in the Legends Classic in Daytona, Florida.

Key players

The Knights are led in scoring by a trio of players averaging a little over 13 points per game. 6-foot-9 junior forward Jordan Burks is the leading scorer for UCF with 13.8 points per game. He is also second on the team in rebounding with 4.7 boards per game behind senior forward Jamichael Stillwell who averages 8.8 rebounds per game.

Senior guards Riley Kugel and Themus Fulks average 13.7 and 13.3 points per game respectively and both are consistent scorers from the field. Fulks leads the team in 3-point shooting, averaging 50% from behind the arc this season.

Coaching

UCF is led by head coach Johnny Dawkins. He’s now in his 10th season at the helm and owns a 179-121 record (.597) as head coach with the Knights.

He’s led the Knights to eight winning seasons and one NCAA Tournament appearance during his time as head coach. The tournament appearance came in March 2019 where the Knights won their first and only NCAA Tournament game in program history to date as a No. 9 seed defeating No. 8 seed VCU in the first round.

Dawkins signed a contract extension in June 2024 that secured his position as head coach through the 2026-27 season. That decision is looking good as the 11-1 record currently owned by the Knights is the best start to a season during Dawkins’ tenure at UCF.