UCF round-up Bulls 75-64. Highlights and post game interviews

[Knight_Light]

Game recap and post-game notes:
http://www.ucfknights.com/sports/m-baskbl/recaps/010616aaa.html

Matt and Adonys post-game interviews


Coach Jones post-game interview


Highlights

 

[Knight_Light]

UCF is now tied for 2nd place in the conf:

Houston 3-0
SMU 2-0
UCF 2-0
Memphis 1-0
Temple 2-1
Cinci 1-1
UCONN 1-2
Tulsa 1-2
ECU 0-2
Tulane 0-3
USF 0-3

Next up: at SMU on Sunday...hope Adonys and Matt can shoot well from downtown in Dallas...need them both to win. (Plus, get AJ going in the 1st half).

 

[Central Floridave]

UCF played great last night. Even when the duh*bulls made runs and caught up, UCF stayed confident and played great. So we solidified the preseason expectations and are better than ECU and Duh*Bulls. Now lets EXCEED expectations and beat the ponies....

 

[Knight_Light]

UCF played great last night. Even when the duh*bulls made runs and caught up, UCF stayed confident and played great. So we solidified the preseason expectations and are better than ECU and Duh*Bulls. Now lets EXCEED expectations and beat the ponies....

Yes...it was good to see UCF remained composed, even when USF kept it tight...as that is when AJ took over...drove the lane for either 2 made FT's or buckets.

UCF has to play ECU (at home on Jan 16) and USF in 2 weeks in Tampa...so hopefully UCF can win both of those games too.

NOTE: The Saturday, Jan 16th home game vs ECU at 7 pm...important game to show up as that is UCF's biggest football recruiting weekend and all recruits/coaches will be in attendance...so it would be great to show them that UCF has school pride in both major sports, not just football.

 

[KNIGHTTIME^]

We actually played pretty poorly last night. I watched a few unforced turnovers that need to be cleaned up. Our passes into the post are terrible. USF had a bunch of ineligible players. Hopefully we can fix a few areas and give SMU a game.

 

[Knight_Light]

We actually played pretty poorly last night. I watched a few unforced turnovers that need to be cleaned up. Our passes into the post are terrible. USF had a bunch of ineligible players. Hopefully we can fix a few areas and give SMU a game.

Disagree...and while UCF didn't play great...they did the fundamentals necessary for a good conf win.

UCF shooting well from downtown is a strength of Adonys and Williams (8-15 combined)...and with USF in a zone, UCF jumped on that.

Also, during crunch time, UCF had just 4 turnovers in 2nd half...so ball security improved, especially when AJ became aggressive when needed...which lead UCF shooting 52.4% in 2nd half from field (48% for the game).

UCF was able to get USF into foul trouble in 2nd half and helped UCF get to the line 18 times while making 15 (83.3%), as UCF shot 20-25% (80%) for the game.

Considering USF was coming off probably their 2 best games of the season (close loss at home vs red hot Houston...and then was in a one possession game at Top 20 SMU for 30 plus mins), it was good UCF frustrated USF's best shooter, McMurray (AAC Week 1 Honor Roll)...who came into last night's game shooting over 47% from downtown in their tough games vs UH and SMU while averaging 17.5 pts...hit only 2-9 last night, (4-13% overall) with just 10 pts in 37 mins.

If UCF continues to shoot well (39% from downtown, 48% from the field...80% off 25 FT attempts), UCF will win more conf games this season. (And yes, odds are, UCF won't shoot well in some games, hence why they will probably lose said games).

 

[Knight_Light]

UCF made 23 shots from the field (hit 48% from the game) but had 17 assists on those 23 buckets...much higher level than what they've done in this season.

Prior to last night's game, UCF was averaging one assist per 1.89 baskets made.

UCF averaged one assist per 1.35 baskets made last night.

 

[mattropolis]

#FreeThrowsMatter McBuffet looks a lot better. I love the fallaway he is now using this season. If he can continue to work on his footwork and lose 20 pounds (so he can be more explosive to the hoop) he could get some invites to some NBA camps (after next season). Like Sykes, with some hard work he could get a look. Emphasis on some hard work because Sykes never added the 8-10ft jumper he absolutely needed to get a look.

 

[EngAlum98]

We beat 2 conference-win-less teams... barely. We lived by the 3 and will die by the 3. Nice to see some wins though.

 

[UCFhonors]

We beat 2 conference-win-less teams... barely. We lived by the 3 and will die by the 3. Nice to see some wins though.

It's basketball. Most games are close. Winning by 11 and having a 16 point lead isn't really considered a close game in basketball.

 

[Knight_Light]

We beat 2 conference-win-less teams... barely. We lived by the 3 and will die by the 3. Nice to see some wins though.

1st place Houston "barely" beat USF...and Top 20 ranked SMU was in a one possession game at home vs USF last weekend for the first 30 mins of the game.

Many conf games will be tight...and yes, shooting will always matter...and good news for UCF is that their FT shooting has improved greatly, so UCF is now coming out on top of games this season maybe they wouldn't have last year, even with BJ Taylor.

 

[UCFhonors]

1st place Houston "barely" beat USF...and Top 20 ranked SMU was in a one possession game at home vs USF last weekend for the first 30 mins of the game.

Many conf games will be tight...and yes, shooting will always matter...and good news for UCF is that their FT shooting has improved greatly, so UCF is now coming out on top of games this season maybe they wouldn't have last year, even with BJ Taylor.

The only problem I'm having with this season besides losing some close ones that I thought we could win, is questioning what this team would look like with BJ. We will never know.

On one hand the loss of BJ is huge. On the other hand, it opened the door for others to play more and develop, which is great for our relatively young back court. I've really been excited about all the substitutions and lineups, and players like AJ playing multiple positions.

If we finish 6-7th in the AAC, I will call it a good year. NIT invite would make it a great year.

What needs to happen for us to get an NIT invite?

 

[HammerB08]

NIT invite would make it a great year.

I'd be ecstatic to see basketball play a postseason tournament again. This should be the goal.

 

[Knight_Classes_begin_7pm]

We actually played pretty poorly last night. I watched a few unforced turnovers that need to be cleaned up. Our passes into the post are terrible. USF had a bunch of ineligible players. Hopefully we can fix a few areas and give SMU a game.

I agree 1000%.

How could anyone argue that McBride, Fall, and Blair know how to box out on defense.

I mean does Donnie coach these guys for this. Only Blair gets into the box out position of defense. McBride stands UNDER the rim, no wide stance, not boxing out, and opposing teams just jump in and steal the ball. Taco....same thing.

Does anyone else see this??? )*&%&#$&6%(&^)*( It's frustrating!

I'm glad Donnie finally told AJ Davis to drive to the rim. We haven't taken a 10-15 ft jump shot inside the perimeter in 2 years! (not really). USF was doing it......hey, why don't we do it.

3 point shooting was excellent (that and free throws are why we won the game).

 

[Knight_Classes_begin_7pm]

Disagree...and while UCF didn't play great...they did the fundamentals necessary for a good conf win.

UCF shooting well from downtown is a strength of Adonys and Williams (8-15 combined)...and with USF in a zone, UCF jumped on that.

Also, during crunch time, UCF had just 4 turnovers in 2nd half...so ball security improved, especially when AJ became aggressive when needed...which lead UCF shooting 52.4% in 2nd half from field (48% for the game).

UCF was able to get USF into foul trouble in 2nd half and helped UCF get to the line 18 times while making 15 (83.3%), as UCF shot 20-25% (80%) for the game.

Considering USF was coming off probably their 2 best games of the season (close loss at home vs red hot Houston...and then was in a one possession game at Top 20 SMU for 30 plus mins), it was good UCF frustrated USF's best shooter, McMurray (AAC Week 1 Honor Roll)...who came into last night's game shooting over 47% from downtown in their tough games vs UH and SMU while averaging 17.5 pts...hit only 2-9 last night, (4-13% overall) with just 10 pts in 37 mins.

If UCF continues to shoot well (39% from downtown, 48% from the field...80% off 25 FT attempts), UCF will win more conf games this season. (And yes, odds are, UCF won't shoot well in some games, hence why they will probably lose said games).

I'm going to have to disagree on the defensive fundamentals....BOXING OUT!!!!!

 

[KNIGHTTIME^]

I agree 1000%.

How could anyone argue that McBride, Fall, and Blair know how to box out on defense.

I mean does Donnie coach these guys for this. Only Blair gets into the box out position of defense. McBride stands UNDER the rim, no wide stance, not boxing out, and opposing teams just jump in and steal the ball. Taco....same thing.

Does anyone else see this??? )*&%&#$&6%(&^)*( It's frustrating!

I'm glad Donnie finally told AJ Davis to drive to the rim. We haven't taken a 10-15 ft jump shot inside the perimeter in 2 years! (not really). USF was doing it......hey, why don't we do it.

3 point shooting was excellent (that and free throws are why we won the game).

My compliant was more about the guards feeding the post on a few possessions which were just bad passes. Leads to no ucf shot and transition baskets for opponents. There were times it went ok when I believe Adonys and Mcbride passed in and out which usually leads to open looks.

We have much tougher tests coming with tulsa, smu, houston, uconn, etc...

 

[Knight_Light]

Those that stayed home and watched on ESPNEWS saw during the game but I only noticed watching hightlights:

ESPNEWS bottom scoreline for the game read:

S. Florida and UCF

#winning

 

[Central Floridave]

SMU remains undefeated with a game down to the wire with Cinci just now. 59-57, UCF next!

 

[Knight_Light]

Here's more UCF Highlights from their win over USF, edited with some Marc Daniels radio calls.