The Central Florida Knights and Cincinnati Bearcats will take the court Saturday at Fifth Third Arena. Tip-off from Cincinnati, OH, is at 12:00 p.m. ET.
UCF, 13-8 SU and 10-10-1 ATS, lost to Temple on Saturday. The Knights are 1-4 in their past five and 4-5 in American Athletic Association competition.
Cincinnati, 15-8 SU and 15-7 ATS, beat Tulsa on Wednesday. The Bearcats are 3-2 in their past five and 6-4 in AAC play.
The Knights beat the Bearcats 75-61 in their lone meeting last season. UCF is 12-5 all-time versus Cincinnati.
Central Florida started its season 13-4, but after a four-game losing streak, the Knights are four games out of first place in the AAC. Does UCF have any fight left in it?
The Knights lost a tough one last weekend against Temple, falling 77-70 in overtime. UCF forced overtime but couldn't hang in the final period. The Owls outshot the Knights from the field and won the rebounding battle. Each team committed too many turnovers, but Temple shared the ball (19 assists on 26 made field goals) and made the key shots.
Lahat showing off the post moves!
He's netted a season-high 10 points! ?? pic.twitter.com/bYkBG9ZJeo
— UCF Men's Hoops (@UCF_MBB) January 28, 2023
UCF scores 72.0 points per game (173rd) on 42.9 percent shooting (274th), including 36.1 percent from long distance (75th). It converts 76.3 percent of its foul shots (20th) and averages 32.9 rebounds (139th) with a +3.7 rebounding margin. The Knights are 76th in schedule-adjusted offensive efficiency, per KenPom.
Freshman forward Taylor Hendricks paces UCF, averaging 14.0 points and 7.2 rebounds per game. Other Knights to watch are senior guard C.J. Kelly (12.4 PPG and 4.0 RPG), senior guard Ithiel Horton (12.3 PPG and 3.9 RPG), and sophomore guard Darius Johnson (11.6 PPG and 4.2 APG).
UCF surrenders 66.0 points per game (78th) on 40.8 percent shooting (51st), including 31.3 percent from long range (73rd). It's 55th in adjusted defensive efficiency, 335th in adjusted tempo, and 195th in assist-per-turnover ratio.
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