GAME 23 • UCF VS SOUTH FLORIDA Director, Strategic Communications: Daniel Forcella | Cell: (207) 650-6790 | Email: [email protected] Assistant Director, Strategic Communications: Kelly Cartner | Cell: (248) 978-5201 | Email: [email protected] GAME INFORMATION UCF KNIGHTS (17-5, 7-3) Head Coach: Johnny Dawkins (Duke, 1986) Date ................................................ Wednesday, Feb. 13 Record at UCF: 60-30 (3rd Season) Time ...................................................................... 7 p.m. Overall Record: 216-145 (11th Season) Site ............................................................Orlando, Fla. VS Stadium ...........................................................CFE Arena Capacity ................................................................ 10,000 SOUTH FLORIDA BULLS (17-6, 7-4) TV ..................................................................ESPNews Head Coach: Brian Gregory (Oakland, 1990) Play-by-Play ....................................... John Brickley Record at South Florida: 27-28 (2nd Season) Analyst ................................................Mark Adams Overall Record: 275-208 (15th Season) Radio .....................................FM96.9/AM740 The Game Play-by-Play ....................................... Marc Daniels UCFACTS Analyst ................................................Taylor Young Twitter ......................................................... @UCF_MBB SETTING THE SCENE • Fresh off a road win, the Knights return home for a war, the War on I-4 to be exact. Hashtag.......................................................... #ChargeOn • UCF remains in third place in the American Athletic Conference standings and will look to stay there against rising South Florida, which sits in a tie for fourth in the standings. SCHEDULE/RESULTS • At 17-5, it is UCF’s best 22-game start since the 2003-04 campaign and at 7-3 in league play, it’s O29 Flagler& W, 86-69 the Knights’ best ever 10-game start to AAC action. N6 Rider ESPN3 W, 84-70 THE WAR ON I-4 N11 FAU ESPN3 L, 80-79 • UCF and South Florida square off on Wednesday in one of two games this season as part of the N15 vs. Cal State Fullerton# ESPN3 W, 68-52 annual War On I-4 Rivalry Series. N16 vs. Saint Joseph’s# ESPN2 W, 77-57 • The Knights have defeated the Bulls each of the last six times out, but South Florida owns a 22- N18 vs. Western Kentucky# ESPN2 W, 78-62 15 advantage in the all-time series. • Last season, UCF won 71-69 in Tampa and 72-57 in Orlando. N24 Northern Kentucky ESPN3 W, 66-53 • UCF, which has won the department-wide War On I-4 series each of the last two seasons, N29 Alabama ESPNU W, 70-64 currently leads the third annual series by a score of 30-6 with three more points on the line D2 at Missouri ESPNU L, 64-62 (ot) Wednesday. D8 Grambling ESPN3 W, 70-45 HOLDING THE LEAD D11 Georgia Southern ESPN3 W, 95-88 • The veteran group for UCF has been solid in holding a lead in 2018-19. D16 Stetson ESPN3 W, 90-65 • UCF is a perfect 17-0 when leading with two minutes remaining in the game. D21 Illinois State ESPN3 W, 77-56 • Conversely, the Knights are 0-5 when tied or trailing with two minutes left on the clock. J2 Temple* ESPNews W, 78-73 J5 at UConn* ESPNews W, 65-53 AWESOME AUBREY • Aubrey Dawkins has been named the American Athletic Conference Player of the Week twice, J13 ECU* ESPNU W, 76-65 and earned American Weekly Honor Roll accolades once this season. J16 at Wichita State* CBSSN L, 75-67 • He is currently second on the team and 11th in The American with 15.5 points per game. J19 Tulsa* ESPNU W, 64-62 • Dawkins is also second on the team 5.3 rebounds per game. J23 at Tulane* ESPN3 W, 75-50 • His 78.9 percent mark from the free throw line leads the Knights and ranks seventh in the AAC. • Dawkins scored in double figures in his first 18 games as a Knight, the first player to do so in J27 at Memphis* CBSSN L, 77-57 UCF’s Division I era, and has scored in double figures in 20 of 22 games this season. J31 UConn* ESPNU W, 73-67 • He went for a season-high 26 points on 9-of-12 shooting in Sunday’s win at SMU. F7 #12/12 Houston* CBSSN L, 77-68 F10 at SMU* ESPNews W, 71-65 OFFENSIVE EFFICIENCY • Known for their defense the last few years under Johnny Dawkins, the Knights have been F13 S. Florida* ESPNews 7 p.m. extremely efficient offensively in 2018-19. F16 Memphis* ESPN2 6 p.m. • UCF leads The American in field goal percentage, shooting 46.8 percent from the floor. F21 at Cincinnati* ESPN/2 7 p.m. • The Knights have shot over 50 percent seven times and under 40 percent just twice this season. F24 SMU* CBSSN 12 p.m. • In the win over Temple on Jan. 2, the Knights shot a season-high 60.4 percent from the field. F27 at S. Florida* ESPN3 7 p.m. A UCF WIN WOULD RECORD BREAKDOWN M2 at Houston* ESPN/2/U 4 p.m. M7 Cincinnati* ESPN/2 7 p.m. • Be better than a loss Overall .................................................17-5 • Mark seven straight wins over South Florida M9 at Temple* ESPN2/News 4 p.m. The American ........................................7-3 M14 AAC First Round% TBD TBD • Give the Knights a 9-8 advantage over the Bulls Non-Conference ..................................10-2 M15 AAC Quarterfinals% TBD TBD in games played in Orlando M16 AAC Semifinals% TBD TBD • Be the program’s best 23-game start since going Home ...................................................11-2 19-4 to start the 2003-04 season M17 AAC Finals% TBD TBD Away ...................................................... 3-3 * American Athletic Conference contest • Give the Knights an 8-3 record in the AAC, their & Exhibition contest best since joining the league Neutral................................................... 3-0 # Myrtle Beach Invitational % American Athletic Conference Tournament All times Eastern Twitter: @UCF_MBB | Instagram: UCF.MBB | Facebook: /UCFMensBasketball 1 2018-19 UCF GAME NOTES GAME 23 • UCF VS SOUTH FLORIDA BY THE NUMBERS KNIGHT NOTES KNIGHTS BULLS DOMINATING DEFENSE • It’s the defense that has dominated under Dawkins though, holding opponents to a combined 73.2 POINTS 73.2 38.10 percent from the floor the previous two seasons, which led the nation during that time. 64.5 8 DEFENSE 65.6 • Only two teams in the nation were ranked in the top six in scoring defense in both 2016-17 and 2017-18, UCF and Virginia. 8 +8.6 MARGIN +7.6 • The Knights led the nation in defensive field goal percentage in 2016-17, holding opponents to 46.8 8 FG% 43.8 36.5 percent, and in 2017-18 they ranked ranked third in the nation in scoring defense at 61.7. • UCF ranks second in The American in field goal percentage defense (39.5) and third in scoring 8 DEFENSE 39.5 FG% 40.7 defense (64.5), having held seven opponents to less than 60 points. 6.8 THREES 6.8 • The Knights are 9-0 when allowing 63 points or less and 7-0 when holding opponents to less than 36 percent shooting from the field. 34.7 8 3FG% 34.1 31.8 3FG% DEFENSE 8 31.4 TAKING CARE OF THE BALL 63.2 FT% 8 64.1 • A veteran group, UCF is one of the best in the nation at not turning the ball over, ranking 20th in all of NCAA Division I with just 257 turnovers. +1.3 REB MARGIN 8 +6.9 • With 11.7 turnovers per game, the Knights would destroy the program record for fewest 13.4 ASSISTS 8 13.8 turnovers per game in a season if it ended today (13.0). • UCF has had five games this season with single digit turnovers, including a season-best of six 8 11.5 TOS 17.0 against Stetson. 1.2 8 AST-TO 0.8 BIG SHOT BARRY 8 6.2 STEALS 8.8 • BJ Taylor has led UCF in scoring each of his three seasons on the court, and now his 16.7 4.7 8 BLOCKS 3.5 points per game leads the Knights and ranks seventh in The American in 2018-19. • The Orlando native was named the Preseason Player of the Year and Preseason First Team All- Conference in The American. SERIES INFORMATION • If he continues pace, Taylor could become the first player in UCF’s D1 era to average 15+ points per game in three consecutive seasons. Overall: ......................................... South Florida, 22-15 • With a knack of getting to the line, Taylor ranks fifth all-time at UCF with 397 free throws and is 22nd in the nation this season with 128 free throws made. in Tampa:........................................ South Florida, 12-7 • He also ranks ninth all-time with 288 assists and ninth with 160 three-pointers. in Orlando: ......................................................Tied, 8-8 • Over the last two games, Taylor has totaled 14 assists and just two turnovers. at Neutral location: .......................... South Florida, 2-0 TAYLOR ALREADY IN THE CLUB • Taylor became the 19th player in UCF history to join the 1,000-Point Club when he achieved Streak: ......................................................... UCF won 6 the feat Feb. 21, 2018 at Tulsa. Last meeting:......................... UCF 72, South Florida 57 • Taylor scored 1,000 points in just 66 games, believed to be the third fastest in UCF’s Division I history behind Ken Leeks (1988-92) and Darryl Davis (1991-95). ................................................................. Feb. 14, 2018 • He now has 1,459 in his career, passing former teammate Matt Williams, Marcus Jordan and Last South Florida win: ......... South Florida 74, UCF 45 most recently D’Quarius Stewart for ninth place in program history. • Taylor is one of just four players in UCF history to rank in the top 10 in program history in both ................................................................March 4, 2015 points and assists. The War On I-4 dates back to 1972 when UCF and South TACKO TIME Florida first met on the hardwood.