Three Key Takeaways From UCF's Loss To No. 1 Arizona
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Despite a rally going into halftime and the second-largest home crowd in program history, the UCF Knights were unable to catch the No. 1 Arizona Wildcats, falling 84-77 on Saturday.
Here are three key takeaways for the Knights from their first loss in Addition Financial Arena since Nov. 8:
1. Themus Against The World
UCF's offense went cold against the team from the desert, ultimately tying for its second-lowest team field-goal percentage of the season. The cold streak particularly affected guard Riley Kugel, who went 5-18, his 13 missed shots more than most of his teammates attempted. His 27.8% field-goal percentage marks his second-lowest of the season.
Despite his fellow guard's struggles, Themus Fulks put on a career scoring performance with a career-high 30 points on Saturday. He became a central pillar of the Knights' offense that helped bring the game to within a shot by halftime after going down 15 with 9:53 left in the first half. However, even his shots began falling in the second half, corresponding with the Wildcats pulling away once again to seal their win.
Aside from Fulks, forward Jordan Burks was the only other Knight who took multiple shots and made at least half of them, going 6-12 from the floor and 2-6 from beyond the arc to turn in 16 points. It just was not enough to offset the rest of the team's missed shots.
2. Arizona Had The Height
Even with forward Koa Peat taken out of most of the first half due to foul trouble, the Wildcats still had their way down low, out-rebounding the Knights defensively, 28-22.
Leading the way for Arizona was center Motiejus Krivas, who had his way at the glass with 12 rebounds, which contributed to a double-double with his 17 points.
Standing at 7'2", the only UCF player that took the court with the wingspan to interfere with his shot was John Bol, but he was only on the court for 17 minutes to Krivas' 30. So, the Lithuanian had the advantage at the glass and was free to use his wingspan to land hook shots more often than not.
3. Getting To The Line
Arizona did not just have its way at the glass. They also got to the charity stripe as much as it wanted. Compared to the Knights going 13-14 for the charity strip, the Wildcats created a 10-point swing from free throws alone.
Two players in particular led the way on this front for Arizona, forward Tobe Awaka and guard Jaden Bradley. In fact, Bradley on his own attempted as many free throws as UCF made as an entire team, going 11-13. Most of these free throws, nine of them, came in the game's final 90 seconds to put the game on ice.
The Knights hit the road once more on Tuesday at 7 p.m. to face a hungry #2 Iowa State that is poised to fall from that spot, fresh off a pair of losses to Kansas and Cincinnati.
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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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