UCF Knights' March Run Stalled by Early Deficit, Shooting Woes

0:00On March 14th, the UCF Knights saw their big 12 tournament run-end Thursday against top seeded Arizona. Despite a strong season that likely earned them an NCAA tournament bid, they couldn't overcome a massive early deficit. Arizona built a 27-point lead late in the first half, after UCF endured a scoring drought of over six minutes on nine straight misses. Earlier this week, the Knights showed their grit by rallying from double digits down against Cincinnati. They have won five such comebacks this year. But against Arizona, even a second half pushed that cut the gap to 12 points, with under five minutes left, fell short as UCF cooled off again, hitting just two of their final A shots. Fans and analysts point to UCS resilience under Coach Johnny Dawkins, but a whole that deep proved too much. The team kept it from becoming a total route, yet the early damage highlighted the high stakes now, where every loss ends the season. Team gains exposed another issue, that three points shooting has gone cold.

1:01UCF ranks high nationally from deep, fourth in the big 12, but shot under 20% in their last three outings, making just three each time. Key shooters like Jordan Berks and Carmelo Pacheco combined for 0-8 against their Arizona. With selection Sunday at 6 p.m., revealing their next foe, fixing these shooting woes and avoiding big deficits could extend the Knights' march run. Keep into the dance.