UCF basketball scores Quad 1 road win over Kansas State

UCF stacked its third Quad 1 win of the season Wednesday, Jan. 14, bringing an end to an eight-game skid in Big 12 road games.

Themus Fulks produced a double-double with 13 points and 12 assists, Riley Kugel scored a team-high 19 points and Jamichael Stillwell chipped in 18 points with seven rebounds as the Knights (14-2, 3-1) defeated Kansas State 82-73 at Bramlage Coliseum in Manhattan, Kansas. UCF led for more than 37 minutes, including a 14-point advantage at the half.

Themus Fulks is the most underrated PG in the Big 12. 24 assists and four turnovers in his last two games. UCF stacks another win on the road at Kansas State.

— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) January 15, 2026

The Knights bounced back offensively after a fairly dreadful showing at Oklahoma State eight days ago, shooting 52.5% from the floor and 7 of 15 from 3-point range. They clamped down in crunch time, holding K-State (9-8, 0-4) to one field goal on its last seven attempts.

P.J. Haggerty, the Big 12's leading scorer, had 18 of his game-high 23 points after halftime. Khamari McGriff scored 15 points, and Nate Johnson filled the stat sheet with seven points, six rebounds, 10 assists and three steals.

Here are three takeaways from a big win in the Little Apple.

UCF set tone by forcing 9 first-half turnovers

Kugel capped an impressive opening half for the Knights by blocking a 3-pointer at the buzzer. The host Wildcats went scoreless over the final 2:44 of the period, missing their last six shots.

UCF set the tone by pressuring the Wildcats' ballhandlers, forcing nine first-half turnovers and turning a couple of them into easy transition buckets — the prettiest of the bunch coming on a back-to-back sequence of bounce passes, leading to a Chris Johnson layup.

That's winning basketball. pic.twitter.com/8rSlRJ8NNw

— UCF Men’s Hoops 🌴 (@UCF_MBB) January 15, 2026

K-State committed a turnover on 23.1% of its possessions over the opening 20 minutes, compared to just 8.6% in the second half.

UCF, meanwhile, generated clean looks at the rim. The Knights scored 22 of 42 points prior to halftime in the paint.

"I do think we got off to a good start. That's something we had been talking about, and I'm glad to see our guys get some carry-over with regards to that," Knights coach Johnny Dawkins said. "Riley Kugel set a tone offensively and got it going early, and we fed off of that as we were going through the half."

Jamichael Stillwell helps break down K-State zone defense

K-State switched to a zone-heavy defensive approach and stuck with it to keep the Knights off balance. UCF committed the same number of turnovers (four) in the first 3:50 of the second half as it did the entire first half.

"They're so long. They do a really good job, and they're active," Dawkins said. "It's not a defense they play a lot of, but when they play it, they've show to be effective."

Stillwell, however, emerged as an outlet to relieve the pressure and slow down the Wildcat momentum.

The senior forward continued to pop open just above the free throw line and knock down midrange jumpers. Stillwell had eight of UCF's first 10 points of the second half.

Still, the Wildcats trimmed the deficit down to one near the 11-minute mark. Fulks buried an open 3 on the left wing, and Jordan Burks made another on UCF's next trip down the floor.

K-State kept within arm's length, but Johnson delivered a crucial corner 3 from a baseline inbound with 4:13 left. UCF maintained a multi-possession lead for the rest of the night.

Next up for UCF: No. 1 Arizona

UCF already scored a significant home upset of a Big 12 blue-blood, slipping past then-No. 17 Kansas 81-75. Next up, it will welcome the nation's No. 1 team — Arizona.

Entering Wednesday's late game with rival Arizona State, Arizona sported a perfect 16-0 record with five ranked wins (Florida, UCLA, UConn, Auburn, Alabama). The Wildcats rank fourth in the nation in rebounding (43.9 per game) and average 91.1 points on 19.2 assists per game.

The last time UCF faced a No. 1 team was, arguably, its most memorable contest in program history — a heartbreaking 77-76 loss to Duke in the second round of the 2019 NCAA Tournament.

All-time, the Knights are 0-3 against top-ranked opponents. They lost 85-64 at Memphis in 2008 and 92-70 to UMass in 1996 — a pair of teams coached by John Calipari.

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