Johnny Dawkins got the response he needed, and Carmelo Pacheco delivered the kind of night that can flip a game in a hurry.
With UCF stuck behind South Alabama late in the first half Tuesday night, Dawkins burned a timeout and tried to settle his team down. The Knights were being outplayed in the early going, but Pacheco changed the tone almost immediately, drilling shot after shot from deep and carrying UCF to a 76-69 win at Addition Financial Arena.
Pacheco finished with a career-high eight 3-pointers and a season-best 24 points. UCF also launched a season-high 17 threes, and that barrage helped the Knights pull away after a shaky start.
Dior Johnson matched Pacheco with 24 points of his own, hitting four 3-pointers and handing out nine assists. He has now scored at least 20 points in seven straight games, a run that stretches back to last season.
The win moved UCF to 3-0, and the Knights have now won 13 straight non-conference regular-season games going back to last season. It’s the first 3-0 start since 2025. It also gave UCF its first victory in the series, ending a six-game skid that dated to the first meeting in 1984.
South Alabama came out with a zone that gave UCF trouble early. The Knights made just four of their first 14 shots before Caden Vasko knocked down a pair of 3s to help steady things. Even then, the Jaguars were the sharper team for much of the first half.
Jalen Langsy’s 3-pointer put South Alabama in front 12-10, and the Jaguars stretched that edge to 24-16 midway through the half. Pacheco kept UCF from slipping further behind, burying four 3-pointers in the final seven minutes of the half. His deep buzzer-beater from 30 feet cut the deficit to 34-32 at the break.
UCF carried that momentum into the second half. Johnson opened the period with a 3-pointer from the left side of the key, and Pacheco answered with another from long range a few minutes later to push the Knights back in front for the first time since the 15-minute mark of the first half, 38-37. He struck again on the next possession, giving UCF a 41-39 lead.
From there, the Knights kept building. They pushed the margin to double digits at 59-49 with 9:48 left and held on from there.
Aaron Goldstein led South Alabama with 20 points, and Stephen Williams added 18.
UCF returns home Friday against Georgia Southern at 8 p.m. on ESPN+.
In Other News...
UCFs Bowl Push Now Comes Down To Avoiding Another Letdown
Coming off a road win over Kansas, UCF has put itself in position to chase postseason eligibility, but the margin for error is still razor thin. With a 5-4 record, the Knights need one more victory to lock up a bowl berth, and Scott Frost has made it clear the next step is less about celebrating the last one and more about keeping the same edge that carried them through it.
Arizona State offers a different kind of test, one built around a young offense that can lean on its run game and force defenders to stay disciplined snap after snap. For UCF, the assignment is straightforward in theory and tricky in practice: keep the Sun Devils from controlling the line of scrimmage, stay focused for four quarters, and avoid the kind of letdown that could turn a promising push into another missed opportunity. [Read more 🡒]
UCF Backfield Suddenly Faces A Huge Concern Before Arizona State
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Landen Chambers situation is still less clear, which only adds to the uncertainty around how much help UCF will have in the backfield. Scott Frost is expected to address both injuries in his upcoming press conference, and until then Taevion Swint looks like the next man who could be asked to take on a bigger workload if the Knights need to reshuffle their rotation. [Read more 🡒]
Dior Johnson Is Carrying UCF But A Bigger Test Is Coming
UCF kept its unbeaten start intact with an 87-75 win over Yale, and Dior Johnson once again set the tone for a team still finding its early-season rhythm. Johnson led the way with 28 points and seven rebounds, while the Knights also got double-digit scoring help from other contributors as they pulled away with a stronger second half to move to 2-0.
The next step looks a little tougher. South Alabama comes in off a double-overtime win over Jacksonville State, with Stephen Williams powering that effort with 27 points and 13 rebounds, so UCF is about to see a more demanding test than the one Yale provided. For a team leaning heavily on Johnson early, the question now is whether the supporting cast can keep pace when the margin for error gets smaller. [Read more 🡒]