When UCF welcomed No. 1 Arizona to Addition Financial Arena, the stakes were sky-high-and the energy matched.
Students packed in early, shoulder-to-shoulder in a buzzing student section that was standing-room-only well before tipoff. For only the second time in program history, the Knights were hosting a top-ranked team.
And you could feel it in the building.
Head coach Johnny Dawkins had called on fans to show up and bring the noise. They delivered.
The arena was electric, and the Knights fed off that energy early. Guard Themus Fulks set the tone with a floater in the paint to open the scoring, and center John Bol brought the house down moments later with a thunderous dunk that gave UCF an early lead.
But Arizona didn’t stay quiet for long.
The Wildcats leaned on their size and interior presence, attacking the paint early and often. They scored 8 of their first 11 points inside and used a 19-2 run to flip the game in their favor, building a 26-11 lead midway through the first half. During that stretch, UCF went ice cold-just 1-of-13 from the field and scoreless for nearly four minutes.
Still, the Knights didn’t fold.
Jordan Burks broke the drought with a coast-to-coast drive that ended in a goaltending call, then followed it up with a two-point jumper and a three that got the crowd back on its feet. Fulks, who had been relatively quiet to that point, caught fire. He scored 14 of his 16 first-half points in the final six minutes, slicing through Arizona’s defense and helping UCF claw back to within two, 40-38, just before halftime.
Arizona was missing one of its key pieces in the first half-forward Koa Peat, a projected top-10 NBA Draft pick, spent most of it on the bench after picking up two quick fouls. He’d finish the night with just four points, a season-low.
Coming out of the break, the Wildcats struck first, opening the second half with a 6-2 run. Dawkins quickly called timeout to settle his group, and once again it was Fulks who answered. He knocked down a three to cut the lead to four, then found Riley Kugel for a layup to make it a 49-45 game.
Moments later, Fulks matched his career high with a layup through contact and a free throw, pulling the Knights within two.
But Arizona, as it had done before, responded with a run of its own. A 14-3 burst pushed the lead to 65-52-their largest of the second half-and gave them just enough breathing room to hold off UCF’s final push.
Fulks wasn’t done, though. He capped his night with a new career-high 30 points, adding 8 assists in a performance that was as gutsy as it was electric.
Burks added 16 points, and Kugel chipped in with 12. But it wasn’t enough to topple the top team in the nation.
Arizona, now 18-0 (5-0 Big 12), showed why it’s wearing that No. 1 ranking with pride. Five players hit double figures-Jayden Bradley led the way with 23, followed by Brayden Burries (18), Motiejus Krivas (17), and both Ivan Kharchenkov and Tobe Awaka with 10 apiece. The Wildcats shot a blistering 53% from the floor, using their size and depth to control the game when it mattered most.
UCF, now 14-3 (3-2 Big 12), is still searching for its first-ever win over a top-ranked opponent. But Saturday night was a reminder that this program is building something-and that when the lights are brightest, they’re not afraid to swing.
The Knights may have come up short on the scoreboard, but they delivered a performance-and an atmosphere-that won’t be forgotten anytime soon.