UCF Hoops Turns Heads After Legends Classic Win Over Pittsburgh

UCF Hoops picks up its second win over a power conference team away from home against Pittsburgh.

Mar 8, 2025; Morgantown, West Virginia, USA; UCF Knights head coach Johnny Dawkins argues a call during the first half against the West Virginia Mountaineers at WVU Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Ben Queen-Imagn Images | Ben Queen-Imagn Images

The UCF Men's Basketball team picked up another win over a power conference team away from home Thursday night with a win over Pittsburgh, 77-67, in Daytona Beach.

The neutral site victory gained the attention of several national college basketball writers, including CBS Sports' Jon Rothstein.

Under-The-Radar Big 12 Storyline: UCF already has two power conference wins after tonight’s victory over Pitt.

— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) November 21, 2025

Guards Themus Fulks and Riley Kugel tied for the Knights' scoring leader, with 18 points each, and assist leader, with four assists each. However, Kugel still managed this despite playing only 25 minutes, his shortest appearance of the season, due to getting into foul trouble.

"We believe our team is big, as far as guys that we have confidence that can come in and contribute," coach Johnny Dawkins said after the game. "So, when Riley goes down like that, of course, that's tough for us, but we need someone to step up, and that's why we recruited these guys, so that if someone does get in foul trouble, if someone does get injured, then hey, you know, we believe in everybody on our team."

One player that received an uptick in minutes in the second half, when Kugel got into foul trouble, was sophomore center John Bol. His 22 minutes against the Panthers marked his longest appearance in the season, which he used to go 3-4 from the floor for six points and pull down six rebounds, the second-most by a Knight that evening.

"You can see him improving pretty much nightly, and I think he has a bright future ahead of him," Dawkins said. "So looking forward to see his continued growth, because, you know, he has a lot of talent. It just needs to be developed."

Bol ended up not coming close to UCF's rebounding leader of the night, though. That was forward Jamichael Stillwell. The Milwaukee transfer that Dawkins called his "glue guy" pulled down 11 rebounds and scored 12 points to clinch back-to-back double-doubles.

"He does so many things for us, both offensively and defensively," Dawkins said. "He's the ultimate warrior."

Of course, Stillwell was not the only Knight crashing the glass. In fact, UCF out-rebounded Pittsburgh, 37-28, on Thursday night, and while the offensive rebound battle was closer, 16-12 in UCF's favor, the Knights ended up making the most of those opportunities, dominating the second-chance points battle.

"I thought guys did a really good job of going to the offensive glass," Dawkins said. "I thought we had multiple guys, you know, giving the effort there, whether keeping it alive or tipping it or grabbing or grabbing the basketball. That's what we want to see."

The Knights return to Addition Financial Arena on Tuesday at 7 p.m. to host Quinnipiac.

Catch up on more UCF news below:

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