Three Reasons Why UCF Basketball Stunned No. 19 BYU

The UCF Knights men's basketball team came into Tuesday night's game against No. 19 BYU as double-digit point underdogs.

However, it was the visiting team from Orlando that exited the Marriott Center with the win, a convincing one at that, 97-84, adding another statement victory to their NCAA Tournament resume. The Knights even got out as far as 36 points ahead of the Cougars, just two points off their largest lead of the season from the Florida A&M game on Nov. 11.

Johnny Dawkins had somewhere around 3.5 million (near the bottom of Power 5), a completely revamped roster and nearly everyone thought he would be fired after this season.

Now UCF is a lock for the NCAA tourney after this Mollywhopping at BYU.

Incredible job by Dawkins and… https://t.co/ZDkQk0QbGD
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) February 25, 2026

Here are three reasons why the Knights pulled this upset off:

1. Letting The Threes Fly

By the time both teams entered their locker rooms for the halftime break, over half of the Knights' 20 successful field goals came from beyond the arc. BYU coach Kevin Young said there was no perimeter defense from the Cougars as forward Jordan Burks and three other UCF players sank multiple three-pointers in the first 20 minutes, propelling them to their highest-scoring first half of the season.

"Whether we didn't respect their shooters, or what, I don't know," Young said.

It did not help the Cougars, who were down their leading three-point shooter, Richie Saunders, who were not able to answer UCF's deluge of three-pointers with some of their own. While the Knights sank 68.8 percent of their first-half three-pointers, BYU converted on just 27.3 percent.

2. Winning Both Sides of the Battle Down Low

The Knights were not just winning the battle at the perimeter, but also down low, getting a 10-point advantage in the paint, 44-34. It's UCF's largest positive differential in the scoring category since its win against Texas Tech on Jan. 31.

This is where forward Jamichael Stillwell and center John Bol shone. The former earned his seventh double-double of the season with 12 points and 12 rebounds, while the latter, despite only being in the game for 19 minutes, pulled down six rebounds and went 4-5 from the floor. Three of Bol's four successful field goals came consecutively to open the second half and helped get the Knights out to a 30-point lead for the first time.

"I thought they did a really good job of, you know, protecting the basket," UCF coach Johnny Dawkins said after the game. "I thought they did a good job of rebounding the basketball, and I thought John's start to the second half was really big. I thought Themus [Fulks] did a great job of finding him and giving him some good opportunities where, you know, where he can be really effective."

Bol's effectiveness can also be seen through a team-leading plus-minus of 27, meaning the Knights outscored the Cougars by 27 points when Bol was on the floor. BYU forward AJ Dybantsa even mentioned Bol by name, saying he made it "a little harder to finish at the rim."

"I was really happy for John," Dawkins said. "You know, sometimes, you know, the way we play and the way we move to basketball, he may not touch it as much, but when he does touch it, he's effective, you know, finishing off plays as well."

3. Withstood the Rally

Despite the Knights getting out to one of their biggest leads to the season, BYU was still the team that came back from over 20 points down to beat Clemson and had the nation's leading scorer on its side.

In the game's final 10 minutes, the Cougars went from being down by over 30 to losing by 13. This was helped by the Knights missing seven consecutive field goals from between 7:57 and 4:49 left in the game.

While some of UCF's offense went cold, it was able to keep the rally from building any more momentum late in the game thanks to some layups, free throws and dunks from Burks, Fulks and guard George Beale Jr.

Fulks' late contributions in particular helped extinguish the Cougars' hopes for a historic comeback with six points in the game's final two-and-a-half minutes. This ended up making all the difference, turning what could have been a close two-shot win into a comfortable double-digit one for the Knights.

The Knights, who have now followed up a three-game losing streak with a three-game winning streak, return to Addition Financial Arena on Feb. 28 at 8 p.m. to host Baylor.

Catch up on more UCF news below:

UCF Guard Makes Splash In Return Against Utah

Three Stats That Stood Out In UCF Basketball's Win Over Utah

How A Miscommunication Helped UCF Basketball Win Against Utah