UCF basketball cools off FGCU after halftime for 9th straight win

ORLANDO — UCF withstood an unexpected 3-point shooting barrage from slumping Florida Gulf Coast before halftime and pulled away for its ninth consecutive win by breaking a school record from behind the line.

The Knights buried 19 3-pointers on 35 attempts, capped by a pair of bombs from George Beale in the final minute, and Jordan Burks scored a career-high 23 points in a 102-80 triumph over the visiting Eagles at Addition Financial Arena on Saturday, Dec. 20.

UCF, which heads toward Big 12 Conference play with dreams of an at-large NCAA Tournament bid, improves to 10-1. Florida Gulf Coast, meanwhile, dropped its fifth straight game despite making a season-best 14 triples.

"Having scouted these guys over the years, I knew what they were capable of, and they showed it in the first half," Knights coach Johnny Dawkins said. "I give our guys a lot of credit. When you're facing a team that's that hot shooting the basketball, you have to dig down real deep and find something in you in order to change that outcome."

Here are three takeaways from a Sunshine State shootout, just the second all-time meeting between the two programs.

Florida Gulf Coast catches fire throughout 1st half

As of Dec. 18, the Eagles ranked 244th in Division I for 3-point shooting at 32.3%. They had failed to crack the 30% threshold in any of their previous three games, losses to Florida International, Florida Atlantic and New Mexico.

But they could not be stopped for the majority of the first half, making nine of their 11 attempts. Rory Stewart sank the last of those field goals with 1:48 left on the clock, forcing Dawkins to call timeout as the Eagles enjoyed their largest lead of the day (48-41).

"It's crazy. They hit nine 3s in the first half. Me and Devan (Cambridge) have been in college a long time and, I know for myself, I don't think I've played against a team that went 9-for-11 from 3," said UCF point guard Themus Fulks, a fifth-year senior from Winston Salem, N.C.

Overall, FGCU shot 61.3% from the floor, averaging 1.4 points per possession. Those numbers dipped to 40% and 0.9 points per possession in the second half as the Knights made adjustments and identified the opposing shooters.

"It starts with awareness, just being aware of shooters, understanding personnel and what they do," Dawkins said. "I didn't think we had a full, healthy, respective understanding of personnel to the level we needed. We went back to the drawing board with that."

Jordan Ellerbee paced FGCU with 21 points on 9-of-15 shooting, J.R. Konieczny rebounded from a tough day in New Mexico with 17 and Stewart had 17 off the bench, including five 3-pointers.

UCF flips momentum with 2-minute rally before halftime

Following the timeout, UCF chipped away at the deficit to pull even at the break.

Burks and Chris Johnson knocked down a pair of free throws apiece, Cambridge made a fastbreak layup and Fulks beat the buzzer with a driving banker. FGCU misfired on its last three trips down the floor, resulting in a pivotal 8-0 run.

"I thought our guys really responded," Dawkins said. "We got some stops and were able to come down and execute, and were able to tie it up pretty much at the last second. Really proud of our guys for continuing to fight even though a team was really red-hot."

UCF utilized its size in the paint to generate three quick second-chance scores to restore order in the second half. Jamichael Stillwell grabbed eight offensive rebounds and notched his fifth double-double of the season with 14 points and 13 boards.

Five players finished in double figures for UCF, including Cambridge and Chris Johnson with 29 points combined off the bench. The Knights maintained a double-digit advantage for the final 10:06 of regulation.

UCF prepares for neutral-site, non-conference finale

UCF has one last matchup before an 18-game Big 12 gauntlet awaits in the new year.

The Knights will make a short drive west down I-4 to Lake Buena Vista, where they will meet Florida Atlantic at 2 p.m. Dec. 23 at ESPN's Wide World of Sports. UCF prevailed 100-94 in last year's battle with the Owls on its home floor.

Dawkins said this year's meeting with FAU came together late in the scheduling process as UCF was "scrambling" for a replacement opponent.

"It all helps. Now, everything is so analytical, and guys are looking at how you need to schedule for the numbers to be where they should be for you to have a chance to be successful," Dawkins said. "We had (another) game that we thought we had, but it was canceled. That game put us in position where we were trying to figure what would be the next best fit for us, and I'm sure FAU was feeling the same way. It was such short notice, after schedules were already out for most teams."

This will be the Knights' second neutral-site contest of the season. They beat Pittsburgh 77-67 at the Ocean Center in Daytona Beach on Nov. 20.

FGCU, meanwhile, concludes the non-conference portion of its schedule at 2 p.m. Dec. 28 against Fort Lauderdale, a member of the National Christian College Athletic Association.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: UCF Knights basketball: 3 takeaways from win over Florida Gulf Coast