UCF Knights Narrowly Miss Victory in Big 12 First Round Game Against Cincinnati Bearcats
The University of Central Florida Knights faced off against the Cincinnati Bearcats in a closely contested match that ended with a score of 62-67. The Knights' season record now stands at an even split, while the Bearcats improved their tally. The game, part of the Big 12 - First Round - Game 2, was held at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City.
The University of Central Florida team started strong, outscoring the home team by four points in the first quarter and maintaining a lead with an impressive second-quarter performance. However, they struggled to keep up as the third quarter saw them fall behind due to a surge from Cincinnati. Despite a valiant effort in the fourth quarter adding seventeen points to their total, it wasn't enough to secure victory.
The Knights showcased resilience throughout the game with notable statistics including fifty percent accuracy from two-point range on thirty-two attempts and seventy-two percent from free throws on twenty-five attempts. They also capitalized on turnovers by scoring thirteen points off them and added fifteen second-chance points thanks to their offensive rebounding efforts.
Defensively, UCF recorded seven steals and four blocks but allowed twenty-three points off turnovers. Their assist-to-turnover ratio stood at 0.38 as they tallied five assists against fifteen total turnovers for the game.
On offense, UCF's field goal percentage was forty-three percent after making twenty out of forty-seven attempts which included sinking four out of fifteen three-point shots for a twenty-seven percent completion rate from beyond the arc. Inside paint scoring contributed twenty-four points to their overall score.
In contrast, Cincinnati had an edge with forty-seven percent three-point shooting accuracy and secured more rebounds with thirty-three personal rebounds compared to UCF's twenty-four personal rebounds which contributed significantly to their win despite committing one fewer turnover than UCF.
As fans look forward to future games, they can catch live coverage where they will hope for better outcomes for UCF Knights' basketball endeavors following this hard-fought contest at T-Mobile Center where attendance peaked at 2,824 spectators during this neutral site encounter.