UCF's NIT journey has taken them to the Pacific Northwest where a second-round matchup against Oregon awaits on Sunday at 7:30 p.m. EST (ESPNU).
After defeating Florida 67-49 with a smothering defensive effort, the Knights quickly packed their bags for Eugene. They've been working to get acclimated since arriving very late Thursday night.
"We felt it would be better to leave on Thursday so that would give us a couple days, Friday and Saturday, to get adjusted," UCF head coach Johnny Dawkins said. "I think it worked out well. The guys have been great. Everybody was accommodating on short notice. They've handled it very well."
In the win against UF, C.J. Kelly went off for 21 points while Taylor Hendricks scored 17. The story of the game was UCF's defense. They limited the Gators to 32 percent shooting and held them to their lowest scoring total of the season.
"I thought it was one of our best defensive efforts of the season," Dawkins said. "To hold that team to under 50 points took a heck of an effort. We were flying all over the place. We were everywhere. I felt like we had six or seven guys on the floor defensively at times. That's how we want to play."
Hendricks had two blocks and grabbed eight boards in the win.
"You could tell everybody had more energy," Hendricks said. "We all stayed in front of our man. It was tough to score on us."
On the offensive end, UCF shot 52.7 percent and an efficient 40 percent from long range. 40 of their 67 points were in the paint.
"Any time we're playing good defense, the offense will take care of itself," UCF's Michael Durr said.
No. 1 seed Oregon also had an easy first-round victory, crushing UC-Irvine 84-58. The Ducks played without their top three scorers due to injury but didn't miss a beat led by the trio of Rivaldo Soares (21 points, 10 rebounds), Tyrone Williams (12 points, 11 rebounds) and Nate Bittle (17 points, three rebounds).
Oregon's third-leading scorer Will Richardson, who started all 33 games prior to the NIT, recently was ruled out for the season with a hip injury.
Their top two scorers, N'Faly Dante (13.4 pgg) and Jermaine Couisnard (12.8 ppg), remain day to day with ankle and shoulder injuries, respectively.
Dante is 6-foot-11. Even if he doesn't play, Oregon still has considerable size between Nate Bittle (7-foot), Quincy Guerrier (6-8), Kel'el Ware (7-foot) and Lök Wur (6-9).
"(Oregon has) length," Dawkins said. "They're one of the biggest teams in the nation with multiple 7-footers, 6-11, 6-8, 6-9 (players). They're very long and athletic. They play really well in transition. They're really good on the offensive boards, on the glass, and have really good low-post scorers. They're a very dangerous basketball team. Their size and length is probably the most disruptive."
Among UCF's 2022-23 opponents, Dawkins said Oregon's size reminds him of Florida State and Oklahoma State. Hendricks said OSU immediately came to mind.
"(Oklahoma State) had a lot of shot blockers too," Hendricks said. "Mainly Moussa Cissé at center. It's probably going to be a little harder to score in the paint, but I'll take whatever the defense gives me."
Dawkins, who coached at Stanford from 2008-16, is quite familiar with Oregon and head coach Dana Altman, who arrived in Eugene in 2010. Altman has led the Ducks to seven NCAA Tournaments including a Final Four (2017), four PAC-12 regular season championships and three PAC-12 tournament championships.
"He's a great coach and a great man," Dawkins said of Altman. "He's had a lot of success and done very well. They have a really good style of play offensively. They'll move the basketball and share it well. They execute defensively by mixing up defenses. That's what he's typically done and in scouting he hasn't changed up too much."
Michael Durr, who is nearing the end of his college eligibility, says he's thankful he has this opportunity. After UCF's exit in the American Athletic Conference tournament, Durr thought that might be it.
"It's always a blessing to play in the postseason," Durr said. "Like Coach Dawkins said, there's a lot of teams that are not playing right now. We're still playing and we're grateful for that. We want to get to Vegas and win a championship."
Hendricks, a freshman phenom who will have an NBA Draft decision coming up, feels this team can take it all the way.
"We're definitely feeling really confident," Hendricks said. "During the regular season we wanted to show how good of a team we are and we didn't get to do that a whole lot. This NIT will definitely show how good we actually are."
