UCF Basketball Keeps March Madness Hopes Alive With Overtime Victory

In a game between two NCAA Tournament bubble teams, the UCF Knights' defense and presence in the paint help them get the win in an overtime thriller against Cincinnati.

Mar 11, 2026; Kansas City, MO, USA; 5[ during the first halfUCF Knights guard Themus Fulks (1) drives to the basket around Cincinnati Bearcats center Halvine Dzellat (65) at T-Mobile Center. Mandatory Credit: William Purnell-Imagn Images | William Purnell-Imagn Images

It was a must-win game for the UCF Knights men's basketball team, and despite trailing for just over three-quarters of it, it pulled it off.

Thanks to escaping Cincinnati in overtime, 66-65, the Knights not only move on in Kansas City to the next round of the Big 12 Tournament, but they also pick up a win over a fellow NCAA Tournament bubble team that keeps them in position to secure the program's first March Madness appearance since 2019.

"You know, it's a do-or-die situation, you know," forward Jamichael Stillwell told ESPN's Kris Budden after the game. "We knew we had enough time to come back. We just had to crawl and keep diving in, digging in, you know, and we came out on top."

With their outlook at playing more postseason games now looking more likely, here are three key takeaways from the Knights' win against the Bearcats:

1. They Go High, We Go Low

Mar 11, 2026; Kansas City, MO, USA; UCF Knights forward Jamichael Stillwell (4) shoots the ball in front of Cincinnati Bearcats guard Keyshuan Tillery (7) during the first half at T-Mobile Center. Mandatory Credit: William Purnell-Imagn Images | William Purnell-Imagn Images

Despite the Bearcats holding a size advantage with Baba Miller and Moustapha Thiam in the frontcourt, the Knights ended up with their highest points differential in the paint in Big 12 play this season.

Going into this afternoon, UCF's largest win in Big 12 play in the paint came against Arizona State, 38-24. Even across both its previous two games against the Bearcats this season, the Knights have only two more points in the paint than the Bearcats. This afternoon, UCF won the battle in the paint, 38-10.

Now, the Bearcats' size did help them get a win on the defensive glass, 36-31, which proved costly when the Knights went through their shooting dry spells. However, the offensive glass was a different story. There, UCF had the advantage, 18-10, which also helped it win the second-chance points battle, 17-3, its largest win in that stat since the Texas Tech game on Jan. 31.

The Knights' two big men, forward Jamichael Stillwell and center John Bol, also made their presences felt in overtime, both of them combining to score all of their team's eight points. Stillwell even played that entire overtime period, and the last 10 minutes of the second half, on four fouls. Despite that, he pulled off his eighth double-double of the season with 17 points and 15 rebounds.

Bol, meanwhile, scored 13 points for his sixth double-digit scoring game of the season and eight rebounds.

2. Struggles at the Lines

Mar 11, 2026; Kansas City, MO, USA; UCF Knights center John Bol (7) shoots the ball during the first half against the Cincinnati Bearcats at T-Mobile Center. Mandatory Credit: William Purnell-Imagn Images | William Purnell-Imagn Images

While the Knights' dominance down low managed to keep them in the game and help them get ahead when it mattered the most, it had to make up for shortcomings at both the three-point and the free-throw lines.

The Bearcats ended up doing the most damage with their long-distance shooting, which helped them get out to an early lead. Combined with UCF's worst three-point shooting performance of the season, going 3-24, or 12.5%, Cincinnati ended up getting a 24-point advantage just through three-point shots.

As for the free-throw shooting, that proved more of an issue in the second half. In a period that saw UCF win the half, 32-31, just to force overtime, its 50% shooting from the free-throw line stands out. Meanwhile, the Bearcats went a perfect 11-11.

However, despite the Bearcats taking advantage more often when going to the line, it only translated to a one-point advantage. In fact, UCF's winning bucket was a free throw from Bol, who went a perfect 4-4 in overtime. So, despite missing 10 free throws, the Knights were able to make enough to live and fight another day.

3. Stepping Up on Defense

Cincinnati Bearcats guard Sencire Harris (5) is double teamed by UCF Knights players in the first half of the second round of the Phillips 66 Big 12 Men’s Basketball Tournament between the Cincinnati Bearcats and UCF Knights, Wednesday, March 11, 2026, at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, MO. | Frank Bowen IV/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

While the Knights did get the advantage with turnovers and points off turnovers in the first half, they stepped it up in the second half. In the second 20 minutes, UCF forced 10 turnovers, which led to 12 points, including a steal from forward Jordan Burks that led to the game-tying bucket by guard Riley Kugel with 1:02 left to go in the second half.

Stillwell said after the game that this afternoon was the first game the Knights had eight "kills," which the program defines as three stops in a row.

"Coach has been preaching a lot, you know, getting on the defensive side, you know," Stillwell said. "Our shot's not gonna fall every night, so we gotta do something that don't involve shooting."

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The Knights have a chance to keep their good fortunes going on Thursday at 3 p.m. as they square off against the 1-seed Arizona Wildcats.

Catch up on more UCF news below:

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