The University of Arizona men’s basketball team (18-0, 5-0 in Big 12) earned another Big 12 victory on the road against the University of Central Florida (14-3, 3-2 in Big 12) on Saturday, Jan. 16 at 2 p.m. MST. Arizona won 84-77 over the Knights.
UCF never gave up and stayed close to Arizona throughout the game. The Wildcats demonstrated strong offense and were able to pull away late.
The Wildcats remain one of three undefeated teams; the University of Miami Ohio and the University of Nebraska are still in contention.
Key players
Arizona had four players score double digits including Jaden Bradley, Brayden Burries, Motiejus Krivas and Ivan Kharchenkov. Krivas was dominant in the paint scoring 17 points along with 12 rebounds.
UCF’s Themus Fulks scored a career high with 30 points and was essential to keeping the Knights close. Following Fulks was Jordan Burks recording 16 points and three rebounds.
First half
UCF’s fifth year guard Fulks put the first points on the board with a turnaround jumper off an opponent turnover. This was followed by another jumper by Jaden Bradley. The two teams were neck and neck 9-9 before the Wildcats began to pull away. An alley-oop dunk and two free throws from Tobe Awaka brought Arizona up 13-9 in the first five minutes.
Arizona continued to build a nine-point gap after a 3-pointer from Krivas and a jumper in the paint by Brayden Burries. The Wildcats showcased great offense and took all the scoring opportunities they could.
UCF kept chipping away at the deficit that grew to 13 points before they were able to decrease it after a 3-pointer from Jordan Burks.
With just three minutes left in the first half, Fulks shot a 3-pointer that shortened Arizona’s lead to just 4 points. This did not phase the Wildcats as Fulks shot was immediately followed by a driving layup from Ivan Kharchenkov.
Fulks was on fire throughout the first half scoring consistently for the Knights. He hit a 3-pointer with just 24.0 seconds left to bring the gap to just 2 points.
UCF worked throughout the first half to shorten the deficit they created in the beginning of the game. They went into the second half trailing 41-38.
Second half
Within the first minute and a half, Bradley was sent to the stripe and shot 1-of-2 on the fast break after a personal foul on John Bol. Arizona began to build a seven-point gap but UCF hung on after a second chance 3-pointer from Fulks brought the score to 47-43.
Fulks made a driving layup after getting through Arizona’s defense using his physical strength to get past Kharchenkov. Awaka was sent to the line after a foul on Jeremy Foumena and missed both shots.
Though it looked close at the beginning of the second half, Arizona pulled away with a 11-point advantage with just nine minutes remaining in the game. Koa Peat made an alley-oop dunk assisted by Bradley bringing the Wildcats up 67-55.
With just about four minutes remaining, Devan Cambridge was sent to the line shooting two that brought the gap down to just 8 points. Burries silenced UCF fans with a 3-pointer after Cambridge’s free throws.
Fulks got an offensive rebound and went for the layup but failed. It was rebounded by Burk who put it in for the Knights. Both teams got sloppy with the ball as they fought to gain possession after a failed shooting attempt before it was ultimately passed out of bounds by the Knights.
Arizona secured victory 84-77 improving to 18-0 for the season.
Looking forward
The Wildcats will return home to take on the University of Cincinnati on Wednesday, Jan. 24 at 7 p.m. MST in McKale Center.
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