Three Key Takeaways From UCF's Big 12 Opening Win Over #17 Kansas
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The UCF Knights' historic start continues as they pick up their 11th straight win by toppling the No. 17 Kansas Jayhawks, 81-75.
The win also marks the Knights' (12-1, 1-0 Big 12) eighth-straight win in Addition Financial Arena, tying coach Johnny Dawkins' second-longest home winning streak of his tenure in Orlando.
It was a close affair, with neither team gaining a lead of more than nine points, but even as Kansas rallied to tie the game with 1:16 left to go, a corner three by forward Jordan Burks and a layup and-one from guard Riley Kugel in the final minute put the game on ice.
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Below are three key takeaways for the Knights from the game.
1. Battle at the Glass
Despite coming out on top, UCF actually ended up getting beaten at the glass, out-rebounded by the Jayhawks, 39-38. Though Kansas did end up getting out to a commanding lead in this regard early, heading into the halftime break up 21-16, despite center John Bol and forward Jamichael Stillwell still pulling down some contested rebounds.
Tides turned for the Knights in the second half when they won the battle at the glass, 22-18, mostly due to an advantage with offensive rebounding, 8-3.
This had the byproduct of helping the Knights gain an advantage in second-chance points in the second half, 10-3, en route to winning the battle there for the whole game, 16-13.
Forward Devan Cambridge proved a standout for the Knights down low, leading the team in rebounds despite getting all eight of them in the second half, which is when he also got all eight of his points, mostly thanks to going 6-7 from the free-throw line.
2. Protecting the Rock
The Knights put forth one of their finer efforts when it comes to turnovers of the season, on both sides of the ball, against the Jayhawks.
Offensively, the Knights gave up a season-low six turnovers, limiting the Jayhawks to just eight points off those turnovers.
Defensively, UCF forced 12 turnovers and got 15 points off of them, creating a seven-point swing that becomes crucial to a game won by six. The Knights have forced double-digit turnovers in all 12 of their wins this season.
3. A Team Game
Despite coming out on top, a pair of Kansas players were the two highest-scoring individual players for the game: guards Darryn Peterson and Melvin Council Jr.
Peterson, returning from an injury, dominated the first half, accounting for 23 of the Jayhawks' 41 points and 15 of their 32 shots from the floor. Despite him only playing five minutes in the second half, Council stepped up in his place, going 8-10 from the floor to score 20 of Kansas' 34 points in the second half.
While these two performances helped keep the Jayhawks in the game offensively and give them a chance in the late stages, take them away and Kansas shot 9-30, or 30%, from the floor and 2-11 from beyond the arc.
For comparison, take away the Knights' top two scorers, Kugel's 19 points and guard Themus Fulks' 16 points, the rest of UCF shot 14-32, or 43.6%, from the floor and 5-14 from three-point land.
The Knights hit the road for their next game, their first true road matchup since Nov. 14, to take on Oklahoma State at 8 p.m. on Tuesday.
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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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