UCF coach Johnny Dawkins has been driving home the importance of playing hard for the full 40 minutes, and it seems his Knights took that message to heart. Coming off a solid 11-point home victory over TCU, a key Big 12 Conference rival on the bubble, UCF is gearing up for an important two-game road trip. First up, they’ll face Utah in Salt Lake City on Saturday night.
UCF, currently tied for sixth place with No. 23 BYU and West Virginia, snapped a frustrating three-game losing streak with their 82-71 win against the Horned Frogs.
Jordan Burks was on fire, matching his season-high with 23 points, 16 of which came in the first half. He was sharp from beyond the arc, hitting five of his 12 attempts.
The Knights pride themselves on a balanced scoring attack, allowing the game to flow naturally rather than relying on a single star player. Dawkins highlighted this team-first mentality, saying, "We just really wanted to play off each other; let the ball find the guy who has a great opportunity, and we play that way and just trust your teammates."
Leading the charge for UCF is Riley Kugel, who averages 14 points per game. Themus Fulks and Jamichael Stillwell also contribute significantly, both scoring in double figures. George Beale Jr. made a notable impact off the bench against TCU, sinking three of four from deep for a season-high 11 points in just 12 minutes of play.
After their matchup with Utah, the Knights will head to Provo to take on the BYU Cougars.
On the other side, Utah has been struggling, sitting at 10-16 overall and 2-11 in conference play. However, they recently snapped a seven-game losing streak with an impressive 61-56 win over West Virginia, a game in which they never trailed.
Seydou Traore led the Utes with 17 points, adding six rebounds, three steals, two assists, and two blocks to his stat line. His defensive prowess was particularly impressive, as he held West Virginia's top scorer, Honor Huff, to just 12 points, well below his average.
Utah coach Alex Jensen praised Traore’s defensive effort, noting, "When you focus on the defensive part of it, which Seydou took the challenge of guarding him, it’s amazing how it makes your offensive game easy."
With both teams looking to build momentum, this matchup promises to be a fascinating battle on the court.