Halfway through the season, it is no secret that the UCF Knights find themselves in the thick of a very tight race in a competitive American Athletic Conference (AAC). As things stand, 5 out of the top 7 teams in the American Athletic Conference have over 10 wins. Additionally, nine of the 11 teams in the American Conference have a record of .500 or more. It goes without saying that the leader of the pack in the American Conference is the #2 ranked Houston Cougars.
Central Florida is one of the 5 teams with 10+ wins. They have a record of 10-4 overall and a conference record of 1-1. There hasn’t been a game this season in which the UCF Knights have lost decisively. It certainly hasn’t happened in their lost two losses.
Central Florida lost in heartbreaking fashion 68-66 to a buzzer-beater by Missouri’s DeAndre Gholston. On New Year’s Eve, they played competitively against the Houston Cougars in a 71-65 defeat.
The UCF Knights are at the mercy of conference play for the rest of the season. Key matchup that awaits UCF are their matchups against Memphis at home on January 11th and away on February 16th. Wins in both of those matchups will greatly help their tournament resume.
However, the biggest season of the game for UCF is in three weeks against the #2 Houston Cougars at home.
It goes without saying that a win against the Houston Cougars will have major implications as far as a tournament bid is concerned. While a conference tournament win automatically grants them a trip to the Big Dance, a win against Houston will give the team much needed leverage for an at-large bid provided that Central Florida has a stellar second half of the season overall. Of course, UCF would have to follow that up with at least a trip to the finals in conference tournament play.
Key Players:
In terms of offensive production, one can say that it’s been a collective effort. So far this season, 4 UCF players have averaged over double figures. However, the leader of the pack is freshman power-forward Taylor Hendricks. Taylor Hendrick averages 14.8 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.6 blocks. He is the team leader in all of those categories. It is pretty clear that Taylor Hendricks is the frontrunner for the 2022-2023 AAC Rookie of the Year. He made history by being the first freshman in the conference to earn “Freshman of the Week” honors four weeks in a row.
Another key contributor is sophomore guard Darius Johnson. Despite only playing nine games this season, Darius Johnson has scored in double figures in seven of those games. He has had double-figure performances in five straight games. He scored 17 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists on New Year’s Eve against Houston. Darius Johnson also leads the teams in assists and steals.
Of course, the success of a team cannot solely thrive on underclassmen alive. Experience is needed. This can be seen in the contribution of seniors Ithiel Horton and C.J Kelly.
A recent transfer, Horton has found his place in UCF’s rotation quickly. Ithiel Horton has averaged 10.9 points per game. He had a season-high 19 points against Missouri.
Senior C.J Kelly has averaged 10.7 points per game for the season. He has had two 20-point performances so far this season.
TOURNAMENT OUTLOOK:
Through many years of watching conference and NCAA tournaments, I tend to find that the teams who do well tend to have a lot of scoring options. Along with Taylor Hendricks, UCF has three solid scoring options.
I feel the UCF Knights will have a competitive second half of the season. Given their competitiveness in their first matchup against Houston, I’m going to go out on a limb and say that they will upset Houston in their matchup in three weeks.
I feel that their depth will make them a prime candidate for a deep run in the American Athletic Conference Tournament. While I don’t think that they will win, I feel that they will make a trip to the conference finals.
Given that the AAC only accepted two teams in the tourney last year, I will assume that they will do the same. I feel that the Houston Cougars and the UCF Knights will be the two teams chosen. It is possible that they will be selected as one of the “First Four” teams. However, I feel their run will end there.
