UCF Knights’ hope of making it into the NCAA men’s basketball tournament absorbed a huge blow after their second-half fightback fell short against the visiting Iowa State Cyclones, 60-52, on Saturday at Addition Financial Arena in Orland Florida.
After scoring back-to-back road wins over Texas Tech and Oklahoma State, the Knights took on one of the hottest teams in college basketball in the country, Iowa State.
The Cyclones, who hold the second-best record in Big 12 at 12-5 (23-6 overall), controlled the pace by pounding the ball inside and hitting several long-range bombs to take a 7-point lead, 36-29, at the half.
The home team responded to the challenge in the second half as UCF gunner Darius Johnson started making his presence felt on offense. The Knights even had the lead, 50-49, after CJ Walker made a putback layup with 5:08 left in the game.
However, the Cyclones leaned on their veterans like Curtis Jones and Keshon Gilbert to mount an 11-0 finishing kick that sealed the win for good. Senior forward Tre King topped all scorers with 13 points while Jones and Gilbert chipped in 11 points each.
Back at home for #1 Houston on Wednesday pic.twitter.com/DUSPCm55sV
— UCF Men’s Hoops ???? (@UCF_MBB) March 2, 2024
Knights junior guard Jaylin Seller scored a team-high 13 points on 6-for-13 shooting. Johnson had 10 markers and Shamari Allen added 11 for the Knights, who shot an ice-cold 1-for-13 behind the three-point line.
With their recent home loss, UCF sees their NCAA tournament slipping away as their record dropped to 6-10 in the Big 12 and 15-13 overall. Worse, the Knights will have little time to prepare as they brace for another tough home game on Wednesday against Houston, the consensus No.1 team in the nation.
