How UCF Basketball Nearly Lost A First-Round Bye

The UCF Knights men's basketball team could not end its regular season on a high note, entering the Big 12 Tournament with three straight losses.

Thanks to Cincinnati defeating TCU in its final regular-season game, the Knights still preserved a first-round bye in the Big 12 Tournament, but their loss in Morgantown still ended up taking their fate out of their hands.

So, here are three reasons why UCF was unable to pull it off in Morgantown:

1. Got Off on the Wrong Foot

UCF's loss to the Mountaineers was its latest chapter of falling behind early and failing to mount a comeback that results in a win. The Knights are now 1-8 in Big 12 play when they've trailed at halftime.

West Virginia gained this early lead thanks to letting it fly from three. Of the Mountaineers' 29 shots from the floor in the first half, 16 of them were from beyond the arc, of which they converted five. UCF, meanwhile, made just one of six attempts from three-point land. This created a 12-point swing in favor of the home team, which more than accounts for the Knights' deficit at the break.

However, perhaps UCF could have made the deficit closer, or even led, had things gone better for its offense. In particular, guard Themus Fulks, one of the Knights' primary scorers, started off cold, making just one of his seven shots from the floor. He rebounded to go 5-9 in the second half, but the damage was done.

2. Ineffective Depth

One other factor in which West Virginia gained the upperhand was its bench play. Mostly thanks to guard Chance Moore, the Mountaineers put up 16 bench points, compared to UCF's eight.

The Knights already had a slight depth disadvantage with reserve center Jeremy Foumena. However, even their three main bench players in this game ended up going cold on offense. Sharpshooter Carmelo Pacheco missed all three of his attempts from deep, while guard Chris Johnson and forward Devan Cambridge went a combined 2-8 from the floor.

3. Honor Huff

Just like in the previous meeting between these teams back in Orlando, West Virginia guard Honor Huff proved troublesome for UCF in the second half. Of his 24 total points on the day, 18 of them were scored in the second 20 minutes.

Huff was also once again a force at both the three-point and foul lines. From deep, Huff accounted for exactly half of both the Mountaineers' converted and attempted three-point shots for the night, going 4-14. Then, from the charity stripe, he went a perfect 10-10, making just one less free throw than the Knights did as a team.

The cost of UCF continuing its skid increases on Wednesday at 3 p.m. as it travels to the Big 12 Tournament to take on Cincinnati.

Catch up on more UCF news below:

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