Three Key Takeaways From UCF's Nail-Biter With Cincinnati
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It came down to the final possessions, but the No. 25 UCF Knights escaped Cincinnati Sunday night in Addition Financial Arena, 73-72.
Guard Themus Fulks might not have been the highest-scoring player of the game for UCF, shooting 3-7 from the floor, but in addition to his 12 assists, he also got the game's winning basket on a jumper from the paint.
The win gets the Knights (13-2, 2-1 Big 12) back in the win column after a loss on the road to Oklahoma State on Tuesday and extends their winning streak at home to nine games, the second-longest of coach Johnny Dawkins' tenure in Orlando.
Here are three takeaways for the Knights from this game:
1. Reaching For The Bench
Dawkins has said before that the Knights' strength is in their numbers, and it came in handy against the Bearcats.
Before the game even tipped off, reserve guard Carmelo Pacheco was ruled out with what Dawkins said was "a bug." In the game's early stages, forward Jordan Burks drew two fouls, taking him out for most of the first half. On top of that, center John Bol ended up taking a hard fall over another player, and although he returned to the game afterward, his playing time was impacted.
This combination presented opportunities for guard Chris Johnson and center Jeremy Foumena to record their longest appearances of the season, with Foumena even leading the team with a season-high eight rebounds. UCF's bench ended up outscoring the Bearcats' 24-9.
2. Watch Out For Highly-Ranked Scoring Defenses
The Bearcats' Top 25 scoring defense in the nation forced the Knights to cough up their most turnovers in a game since Nov. 16 and also outscored them in points off turnovers, 17-7.
The Bearcats also outstole the Knights, 9-1. It's the second-most steals the Knights have given up this season.
Cincinnati did not just play defense, but they also defended the ball, becoming the second UCF opponent this season to commit single-digit turnovers after Vanderbilt, and kept it to its second-lowest steal count of the season.
The Knights might have won this game, but the Bearcats' defense almost won it for them.
3. The Three-Ball
The Bearcats did get one more chance with the ball with 11 seconds left on the clock. Guard Jizzle James tried to take it to the rim, but after getting met with a double team, he passed it back to forward Jalen Celestine, who had gone 1-4 from beyond the arc to that point. As the clock wound down, Celestine let it fly before the buzzer.
It did not fall.
The shot does NOT fall.
— Bryson Turner (@itsBrysonTurner) January 12, 2026
Moustapha Thiam might have put up a season-high 24 points, but it was not enough as @UCF_MBB escapes with the win, extending its @AdditionFiArena winning streak to 9 games.
Now 13-2 (2-1 Big 12), UCF hits the road to face K-State on Wednesday @ 8 pm https://t.co/dPBzgtnygL pic.twitter.com/gXtXeyeDYP
Cincinnati's 3-19 from three-point land is the worst a UCF opponent has done all season. This allowed the Knights, with Burks off the court due to foul trouble, to be more conservative with their three-point shooting and record their fewest shot attempts from beyond the arc in a game this season.
UCF ended up going 6-14 from three, with Burks, even with his limited minutes, Johnson and guard Riley Kugel sinking a pair of shots each.
Whether their three-point defense saw improvement or the shots just were not falling for the Bearcats, the Knights still managed to sink enough of their own deep shots to pull out a win.
Despite the Knights' win, their loss to the Cowboys caused them to fall out of the Top 25 on Monday afternoon. However, they did receive 18 votes, which would rank them 34th in the nation if every team that received votes was ranked.
UCF is set to try and redeem itself on the road on Wednesday at 8 p.m. as it travels to Manhattan, Kansas, to take on the Kansas State Wildcats.
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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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