How A Miscommunication Helped UCF Basketball Win Against Utah

Neither UCF nor Utah's men's basketball teams could get much separation from each other in the Jon M. Huntsman Center on Saturday night.

No lead ended up reaching double digits throughout the entire 40 minutes, and by the game's final minutes, the lead never grew to more than one point. In fact, with less than a minute to go, the game was tied.

UCF forward Jordan Burks landed a corner three with 31 seconds remaining, but a shooting foul on forward Jamichael Stillwell sent guard Don McHenry to the free-throw line for three free throws. Thanks to sinking all three, it was once again tied with 13 seconds remaining.

However, Stillwell would end up not being the only one making a fouling mistake, as the Utes ended up making one of their own seconds later.

Utah coach Alex Jensen said after the game that his initial plan was to foul the Knights near half court, so they would have to inbound the ball with eight or seven seconds left. However, UCF guard Themus Fulks ended up having enough room to charge to the basket before getting fouled, giving him the opportunity to shoot a pair of game-deciding free throws.

Utah guard Terrence Brown said this was a result of a miscommunication between him and Jensen, who had wanted him to be on the ball. Both separately took accountability for the mistake.

"We were all aware that we were gonna foul, but it was just I think we fouled too late," Brown said. "We were looking to foul before they get into scoring distance."

Instead, with three seconds left, UCF guard Themus Fulks converted his only free throws of the game, which ended up being the deciding points in the Knights' win, 73-71.

"I thought both teams played their hearts out," UCF coach Johnny Dawkins said after the game. "I've been watching a lot of Utah, of course, recently in scouting and just watching how well they've played and the games they've been in and the games they've won, and so, for us, our guys came in understanding just how good a team they were, and we knew we had to play for 40 minutes and it took all 40 minutes tonight."

The Knights are set to remain in Utah, per UCF's radio voice, Marc Daniels, in an X post, while they prepare to take on No. 23 BYU at 11 p.m. Eastern Time on Tuesday.

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