Johnny Dawkins Explains How Vanderbilt's Transition Game Worked Against UCF
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The UCF Knights Men's Basketball once again fell victim to an opponent's transition game this season, only this time it cost them a win as the Knights fell to Vanderbilt on Saturday, 105-93.
While the point swing was not as severe, the Commodores marked the second team the Knights gave up 20 or more points off turnovers to after Hofstra scored 21 points off turnovers in the season-opener.
On Saturday, gave up 20 points to the Commodores after their 12 turnovers, while they could only get two points after six turnovers. In a game that saw a 12-point margin of defeat for UCF, Vanderbilt earned an 18-point swing in points off turnovers.
"I felt like they just, they split us up first half," guard Chris Johnson said after the game. "I just felt like they played a solid game defensively."
Vanderbilt's transition game did not just showcase its defensive capability, but it also showcased its ability to maximize its turnover opportunities. The Commodores averaged 1.25 points per UCF turnover, while UCF averaged 0.33 points for every Vanderbilt turnover. The same pattern can be spotted in the season-opener as well, with the Pride averaging 1.31 points after UCF's 16 turnovers while the Knights averaged 0.92 points after Hofstra's 12 turnovers.
In the case of both games, even if the Knights lost the turnover battle both times, they did not maximize their opportunities with the takeaways they did get, like their opponent.
"They're really active on the ball defensively at pretty much almost all of their positions," coach Johnny Dawkins said of Vanderbilt on Saturday. "So, if you're not careful with the basketball and taking care of it, then they're going to turn you over. And they get out and run and they spread the floor, they shoot quick threes, and they'll get all the way to the basket, and so they make it very challenging for you."
It helped that the Commodores had a diverse offense with four different players getting double-digit shots up from the floor. Their shots leader from the floor, guard Duke Miles, accounted for 19.1 percent of Vanderbilt's shots. UCF's shot leader, guard Riley Kugel, accounted for 32.8 percent of his team's shots from the floor.
"When you have that many guys that are weapons on the floor, it just becomes really hard to scramble and guard without leaving somebody time and space to take a shot, and that's what you saw happening, especially when they turn you over and they got you scrambling defensively," Dawkins said after the game.
The Knights have the chance to correct this on Tuesday at 7 p.m. when they conclude their season-opening home stand against Florida A&M.
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Bryson Turner is a sports journalist who covers UCF Athletics. Turner has contributed to the Black and Gold Banneret, the home for UCF Athletics on SB Nation. He has called the Orlando area home since the age of 8 and received his bachelor's and master's degrees from UCF.
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