GAME 4 | CINCINNATI Assistant AD, Strategic Communications: Daniel Forcella | Cell: (207) 650-6790 | Email: [email protected] GAME INFORMATION UCF KNIGHTS (2-1, 0-0) Johnny Dawkins (Duke, 1986) Date ............................................ Tuesday, December 22 Head Coach: Record at UCF: 85-49 (5th Season) Time ................................................................. 4 p.m. ET Overall Record: 241-164 (13th Season) Location .......................................................Orlando, Fla. VS Arena ........................................Addition Financial Arena (2-4, 0-1) Capacity ................................................................ 10,000 CINCINNATI BEARCATS Head Coach: John Brannen (Marshall, 1997) Video .....................................................................ESPN+ Record at Cincinnati: 22-14 (2nd Season) Play-by-Play ........................................Austion Lyon Overall Record: 104-66 (6th Season) Analyst ........................................... Mike O’Donnell Audio .................................................FM 96.9 The Game UCFACTS Play-by-Play ....................................... Marc Daniels DAWKINS ERA AT UCF Twitter ......................................................... @UCF_MBB • Johnny Dawkins has made an immedate impact as head coach for the UCF men’s basketball Hashtag.......................................................... #ChargeOn team, winning 85 games in just over four years at the helm. • Dawkins is 85-49 since starting with the Knights in 2016, a win percentage of .634, the second SCHEDULE/RESULTS best of any UCF coach (Torchy Clark, .754 from 1969-83). • He has the third most wins of a UCF coach, trailing Clark’s 274 and Kirk Speraw’s 247 from N28 Oklahoma ESPN+ PPD 1993-10. N30 Auburn ESPN+ W, 63-55 • Dawkins has led UCF to its first NIT Final Four (2017), first at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament (2019) and first NCAA Tournament win (2019). D6 at Michigan BTN L, 80-58 D19 at #15 Florida State ACCN W, 86-74 KNOCKING OFF THE NOLES • UCF went into Tallahassee on Saturday and defeated 15th-ranked Florida State 86-74. D22 Cincinnati* ESPN+ 4PM • It snapped a number of streaks for the Seminoles, including their 27-game home winning streak, their 41-game non-conference home winning streak, and their 31-game winning streak D26 Houston* ESPN2 2PM in games played in the state of Florida. D30 Tulane* ESPN+ 7PM • Brandon Mahan (32 points), Isaiah Adams (22 points) and Darin Green Jr. (20 points) led the way, as UCF outrebounded Florida State 32-25 on the night. J2 at South Florida* ESPN+ 7PM • It marked the first ranked opponent UCF has defeated this season, but the fifth that the Knights J5 Memphis* ESPNU 9PM have taken down since Dawkins took over for the 2016-17 season. • It was also UCF’s first win over Florida State in 12 all-time games against the Noles. UCF had lost J9 at Tulsa* ESPN+ 2PM all eight games in the series in Tallahassee, before winning on Saturday. J13 at Temple* ESPN+ 7PM BEATING RANKED OPPONENTS J17 at Houston* ESPNU 2PM • Prior to Dawkins’ arrival at UCF, the program had won three games against ranked opponents J23 SMU* ESPNU 2PM from 1984-2016. Since Dawkins has taken over, the Knights have won five games against ranked opponents in just over four seasons. J27 ECU* ESPN+ 7PM • UCF had never won two games against ranked teams in a single season, and the Knights did it in a span of five days, taking down no. 6 Houston and no. 19 Cincinnati late in the 2018-19 season. J30 at Wichita State* ESPNU 4PM • The Knights are now 8-46 all-time against ranked opponents, but 5-12 against ranked teams F3 at Memphis* ESPN+ 8PM under Dawkins. F6 Tulsa* ESPN2/U TBA CHALLENGING NON-CONFERENCE SLATE F10 Wichita State* ESPN+ 7PM • The Knights had put together one of the most challenging non-conference schedules in the country for 2020-21, taking on Oklahoma, Auburn, Michigan and Florida State. F14 at Cincinnati* ESPNU 1PM • UCF has now concluded that portion of the schedule, finishing 2-1 with wins over Auburn and F17 South Florida* ESPNU TBA no. 15 Florida State, falling to Michigan, and having the Oklahoma game postponed. • It marks the first time UCF has played only non-conference games against major conference F20 at Tulane* ESPNU 2PM opponents and the Knights are the only team in The American to do so in 2020-21. F23 at SMU* ESPNU 7PM RECORD BREAKDOWN F27 Temple* ESPNU 4PM A UCF WIN WOULD M4 at ECU* ESPN2/U 9PM • Be better than a loss Overall ................................................... 2-1 • Keep the Knights above .500 on the season M11 AAC First Round% TBA TBA The American ........................................0-0 • Be Dawkins’ 86th as head coach at UCF M12 AAC Quarterfinals% TBA TBA Non-Conference ....................................2-1 • Give UCF back-to-back wins over Cincinnati for the first M13 AAC Semifinals% TBA TBA Home ..................................................... 1-0 time and pull the series to 12-4 overall M14 AAC Finals% TBA TBA Away ...................................................... 1-1 • Keep the Knights undefeated at home this season * American Athletic Conference contest • Give UCF a 3-2 record in league openers under Dawkins Neutral................................................... 0-0 % The American Tournament - Fort Worth, Texas All times Eastern Twitter: @UCF_MBB | Instagram: UCF.MBB | Facebook: /UCFMensBasketball 1 2020-21 GAME NOTES GAME 4 | CINCINNATI BY THE NUMBERS KNIGHT NOTES KNIGHTS CATS COVID-19 SHORTENED 2019-20 SEASON • After making its first trip to the NCAA Tournament in over a decade in 2019, UCF finished 16- 69.0 8 POINTS 68.2 14 overall and 7-11 in a shortened 2019-20 season. 69.7 8 DEFENSE 71.2 • It was an up-and-down season as the Knights finished just over .500, but had key victories over Cincinnati and Tulsa, who tied for the regular season title in The American. 8 -0.7 MARGIN -3.0 • Collin Smith led the Knights with 12.6 points per game, while freshman Darin Green Jr. was 40.4 FG% 8 43.9 second with 10.1 points per game and led The American with 41.7 percent 3-point shooting and 2.3 threes made per game. 42.7 8 FG% DEFENSE 43.8 7.0 8 THREES 5.5 WHO IS BACK? 35.6 8 24.8 • Most notably, Green. The now sophomore returns to potentially take on a larger role in year 3FG% two at UCF. 31.0 3FG% DEFENSE 8 30.9 • Green averaged 10.1 points per game, shot 41.7 percent from long distance and set a UCF 85.7 8 FT% 63.4 freshman record with 68 threes made in 2019-20. • Additionally, senior Brandon Mahan, redshirt sophomore Dre Fuller Jr., senior Avery Diggs, -5.3 REB MARGIN 8 0.0 redshirt junior Ibrahim Famouke Doumbia and sophomore Tony Johnson Jr. all returned for the 10.3 ASSISTS 8 14.8 2020-21 campaign. 8 13.7 TOS 15.3 WHO IS GONE? 0.8 AST-TO 8 1.0 • Again, most notably, it’s Smith. The team’s leading scorer had one year of eligibility left, but announced prior to the season that he had to step away from the game of basketball due to a 8 7.7 STEALS 6.5 health concern. 2.7 BLOCKS 8 3.5 • Ceasar DeJesus also moved on to start his professional career, while Dazon Ingram, Matt Milon and Frank Bertz are also gone after exhausting their eligibility. SERIES INFORMATION • Smith was second on the team with 6.3 rebounds and led the way with 19 blocked shots. • Ingram was the team’s leader in rebounding (6.9) and assists (109), while Milon hit 43 shots Overall: ............................................................Cincinnati, 12-3 from beyond the arc in his only season with the Knights. in Cincinnati: .....................................................Cincinnati, 5-1 WHO IS NEW? • Let’s start with the immediately eligible transfers. C.J. Walker is a sophomore forward from Sanford, Fla., who spent his freshman season at Oregon, while Darius Perry is a senior guard, in Orlando: ........................................................Cincinnati, 6-2 who played three seasons at Louisville before graduating. • Next there are the the two transfers who sat out last season, practicing with the Knights. Sean ...........................................Cincinnati, 1-0 at Neutral location: Mobley is a redshirt junior forward from Orlando, who played two seasons at VCU, including an NCAA Tournament game against UCF. Moses Bol, a distant cousin of the late Manute Streak: .................................................................... UCF won 1 Bol and current NBA Player Bol Bol, played at Colby Community College prior to arriving in Orlando. Last meeting:.................................UCF 89, Cincinnati 87 (2ot) • Finally, there are the two true freshmen starting to make their mark. Isaiah Adams, a 6-foot-6 forward was named Mr. Basketball in the state of Florida out of Paxon in Jacksonville. Jamille ......................................................... Feb. 19, 2020 - Cincinnati Reynolds, out of St. Petersburg, is a 6-foot-9, 285-pound forward. Last Cincinnati win: ............................... Cincinnati 68, UCF 54 GREEN IS GOOD • Darin Green Jr. made quite an impact as a true freshman last season. He was the team’s ............................................................ Jan. 11, 2020 - Orlando second leading scorer with 10.1 points per game, starting 14 times and playing in all 30 games. • He set a UCF freshman record with 68 made 3-pointers and led The American with 41.7 percent shooting from 3-point range and 2.3 threes made per game. • Green was even better during league play, also leading the AAC with 45.5 percent shooting UCF RANKING SUMMARY from distance and 2.5 made 3-pointers per game against conference opponents. • He shot 83.3 percent from the free throw line, was named the league’s Freshman of the Week CATEGORY NCAA AAC Value once and earned a spot on the AAC’s Weekly Honor Roll once. Ast-to-TO Ratio 280 11 0.76 • Green scored 20 points on six made 3-pointers in the win at no. 15 Florida State and is Assists Per Game 298 10 10.3 currently averaging 13.0 points per game while shooting 42.9 percent from long distance.