GAME 5 | HOUSTON Assistant AD, Strategic Communications: Daniel Forcella | Cell: (207) 650-6790 | Email: [email protected] GAME INFORMATION rv/rv UCF KNIGHTS (3-1, 1-0) Johnny Dawkins (Duke, 1986) Date ...........................................Saturday, December 26 Head Coach: Record at UCF: 86-49 (5th Season) Time ................................................................. 2 p.m. ET Overall Record: 242-164 (13th Season) Location .......................................................Orlando, Fla. VS Arena ........................................Addition Financial Arena 6/7 (6-0, 1-0) Capacity ................................................................ 10,000 HOUSTON COUGARS Head Coach: Kelvin Sampson (UNC Pembroke, 1978) Video .........................................................................ABC Record at Houston: 145-60 (7th Season) Play-by-Play ...................................Rich Hollenberg Overall Record: 645-330 (32nd Season) Analyst ...................................................Jon Crispin 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 86 games in just over four years at the helm. • Dawkins is 86-49 since starting with the Knights in 2016, a win percentage of .637, 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 BEATING THE BEARCATS • The Knights followed up their road upset of then no. 15 Florida State with a home win over D22 Cincinnati* ESPN+ W, 75-70 Cincinnati to open American Athletic Conference play on Tuesday. • It marked UCF’s fourth win over the Bearcats in program history and the first time that the D26 #6 Houston* ABC 2PM Knights have won consecutive games over Cincinnati, having won on the road the last time the D30 Tulane* ESPN+ 7PM two teams played. • Brandon Mahan led UCF with 25 points and tied a career-high with 10 rebounds, while Isaiah J2 at South Florida* ESPN+ 7PM Adams and Darin Green Jr. added 15 and 12 points, respectively. J5 Memphis* ESPNU 9PM • The Knights forced 19 Cincinnati turnovers and only gave the ball away eight times themselves. J9 at Tulsa* ESPN+ 2PM KNOCKING OFF THE NOLES J13 at Temple* ESPN+ 7PM • UCF went into Tallahassee last Saturday and defeated 15th-ranked Florida State 86-74. • It snapped a number of streaks for the Seminoles, including their 27-game home winning J17 at Houston* ESPNU 2PM streak, their 41-game non-conference home winning streak, and their 31-game winning streak J23 SMU* ESPNU 2PM in games played in the state of Florida. • Mahan (32 points), Adams (22 points) and Green Jr. (20 points) led the way, as UCF J27 ECU* ESPN+ 7PM outrebounded Florida State 32-25 on the night. • It marked the first ranked opponent UCF has defeated this season, but the fifth that the Knights J30 at Wichita State* ESPNU 4PM have taken down since Dawkins took over for the 2016-17 season. F3 at Memphis* ESPN+ 8PM • It was also UCF’s first win over Florida State in 12 all-time games against the Noles. UCF had lost all eight games in the series in Tallahassee, before winning on Saturday. F6 Tulsa* ESPN2/U TBA F10 Wichita State* ESPN+ 7PM PLAYERS OF THE WEEK • Mahan and Adams are already off to good starts this week with 25 points and 15 points, F14 at Cincinnati* ESPNU 1PM respectively, in the Cincinnati win, but this past Monday they both earned weekly honors from F17 South Florida* ESPNU TBA The American for last week’s action. • Mahan earned his first AAC Player of the Week honor and Adams garnered AAC Freshman of F20 at Tulane* ESPNU 2PM the Week accolades for the first time in his young career. 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 ................................................... 3-1 • Mark the fourth time in five seasons under Dawkins that M11 AAC First Round% TBA TBA The American ........................................1-0 the Knights would start the season 4-1 M12 AAC Quarterfinals% TBA TBA Non-Conference ....................................2-1 • Be Dawkins’ 87th as head coach at UCF M13 AAC Semifinals% TBA TBA Home ..................................................... 2-0 • Go as a tie for the second highest ranked victory, match M14 AAC Finals% TBA TBA Away ...................................................... 1-1 2019’s win over then no. 6 Houston * American Athletic Conference contest • Keep the Knights undefeated at home this season 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 5 | HOUSTON BY THE NUMBERS KNIGHT NOTES KNIGHTS COOGS BEATING RANKED OPPONENTS • Prior to Dawkins’ arrival at UCF, the program had won three games against ranked opponents 70.5 POINTS 8 77.0 from 1984-2016. Since Dawkins has taken over, the Knights have won five games against 69.8 DEFENSE 8 54.7 ranked opponents in just over four seasons. • UCF had never won two games against ranked teams in a single season, and the Knights did +0.8 MARGIN 8 +22.3 it in a span of five days, taking down no. 6 Houston and no. 19 Cincinnati late in the 2018-19 41.7 FG% 8 42.5 season. • The Knights will have a chance to do that again this season with a win over no. 6 Houston on DEFENSE 8 43.0 FG% 36.7 Saturday. 7.5 THREES 8 7.7 • UCF is now 8-46 all-time against ranked opponents, but 5-12 against ranked teams under Dawkins. 37.5 8 3FG% 32.6 30.7 3FG% DEFENSE 8 22.7 COVID-19 SHORTENED 2019-20 SEASON 77.5 8 FT% 74.3 • After making its first trip to the NCAA Tournament in over a decade in 2019, UCF finished 16- 14 overall and 7-11 in a shortened 2019-20 season. -7.5 REB MARGIN 8 +13.2 • It was an up-and-down season as the Knights finished just over .500, but had key victories over 9.8 ASSISTS 8 12.0 Cincinnati and Tulsa, who tied for the regular season title in The American. • Collin Smith led the Knights with 12.6 points per game, while Green Jr. was second with 10.1 8 12.3 TOS 12.8 points per game and led The American with 41.7 percent 3-point shooting and 2.3 threes 0.8 AST-TO 8 0.9 made per game. 7.3 8 9.5 STEALS WHO IS BACK? 3.0 BLOCKS 8 5.5 • Most notably, Green. The now sophomore returns to potentially take on a larger role in year two at UCF. SERIES INFORMATION • Green averaged 10.1 points per game, shot 41.7 percent from long distance and set a UCF freshman record with 68 threes made in 2019-20. Overall: ............................................................Houston, 16-11 • Additionally, Mahan, redshirt sophomore Dre Fuller Jr., senior Avery Diggs, redshirt junior Ibrahim Famouke Doumbia and sophomore Tony Johnson Jr. all returned for the 2020-21 in Houston: ..........................................................Houston, 8-5 campaign. in Orlando: .................................................................Tied, 6-6 WHO IS GONE? • 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 .............................................Houston, 2-0 at Neutral location: health concern. • Ceasar DeJesus also moved on to start his professional career, while Dazon Ingram, Matt Milon Streak: ............................................................. Houston won 1 and Frank Bertz are also gone after exhausting their eligibility. • Smith was second on the team with 6.3 rebounds and led the way with 19 blocked shots. Last meeting:............................................Houston 78, UCF 63 • Ingram was the team’s leader in rebounding (6.9) and assists (109), while Milon hit 43 shots from beyond the arc in his only season with the Knights. ..............................................................Jan. 3, 2020 - Houston WHO IS NEW? Last UCF win: ............................................UCF 69, Houston 64 • 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, ..........................................................March 2, 2019 - Houston 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 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 UCF RANKING SUMMARY Bol and current NBA Player Bol Bol, played at Colby Community College prior to arriving in Orlando. CATEGORY NCAA AAC Value • Finally, there are the two true freshmen starting to make their mark. Adams, a 6-foot-6 Ast-to-TO Ratio 258 10 0.80 forward was named Mr. Basketball in the state of Florida out of Paxon in Jacksonville. Jamille Assists Per Game 309 11 9.8 Reynolds, out of St. Petersburg, is a 6-foot-9, 285-pound forward. Blocks Per Game 180 10 3.0 CHALLENGING NON-CONFERENCE SLATE Fewest Turnovers 31 2 49 • The Knights had put together one of the most challenging non-conference schedules in the Field Goal Percentage 248 7 41.7 country for 2020-21, taking on Oklahoma, Auburn, Michigan and Florida State.