1 day Ago By Matt Murschel
The palm fronds swayed, and the sold-out crowd cheered, but nothing seemed to ignite a big-enough fire for UCF as the Knights struggled to a 99-48 home loss to No. 7 Kansas on Sunday. The 51-point defeat tied for the second-worst in UCF program history.
The Knights lost to Florida 106-55 on Nov. 24, 1984. All-American center Hunter Dickinson scored 27 points, including 21 in the first half, powering the Jayhawks to their first true road win.
The loss snapped a 6-game win streak by UCF. The Knights (10-3, 1-1 Big 12) were coming off an impressive 87-83 win at Texas Tech on Tuesday and were looking to start 2-0 in conference play for the first time since the 2018-19 season. Jordan Ivy-Curry started the scoring for the Knights with his 28th 3-pointer of the season that cut into Kansas’ 4-0 lead.
Ivy-Curry’s bucket was the only UCF field goal for the first five minutes of the game as the Knights started 1 of 7 from the field. A pair of 3’s by Dallan Coleman and Darius Johnson kept UCF within 5 at 14-9. UCF center Moustapha Thiam picked up his second foul with 11:16 in the first half, sending the true freshman to the bench.
Counterpart Dickinson, meanwhile, connected on 9 of 13 field goal attempts while adding 7 rebounds. As the Knights struggled to find their shots, Kansas built its largest lead to that point at 44-25 at the half. Kansas (10-3, 1-1 Big 12) bounced back from a disappointing 62-61 home loss to West Virginia on Tuesday.
It was the third loss in the last five games for the Jayhawks. Dickinson led five KU players in double figures while guard Keyshawn Hall led UCF with 12 points. UCF guard Jaylin Sellers made his first start of the season in just his third appearance since returning from an undisclosed injury that kept him out of much of the first half of the season.
The senior guard came into Sunday’s game averaging 7 points, 1 rebound and 1 assist but finished with just 4 points in 21 minutes of play. Matt Murschel can be reached at [email protected] UCF vs.
Colorado 7 p.m., Wednesday, Addition Financial Arena TV: ESPN+.
