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UCF Knights Defeat USF Bulls 73-62
- Updated: February 12, 2015
In his first game back since suffering a concussion on Jan. 31, senior Kasey Wilson came off the bench to lead UCF to a 73-62 victory over visiting USF Wednesday at CFE Arena. Wilson scored a season high 18 points and tied a career best with 11 boards to record his third double-double of the season.
“We were as low as we probably could have been after the loss at East Carolina,” Jones said. “It seemed we couldn’t get over the hump. We had a long talk before practice on Monday about enjoying each other and having a bounce back spirit. These guys responded to it tonight.”
Feeding off the energy of a season high 6,201 in attendance and a packed student section, the Knights used a 14-0 first half run to take a commanding 26-11 lead 12 minutes into the game. Wilson and junior Daiquan Walker knocked down threes to ignite the spurt, while junior Staphon Blair capped it with a thunderous dunk.
“The students were huge tonight,” UCF head coach Donnie Jones said. “I want to thank the students and the Knightmare section for coming out strong. Our guys brought that up right off the bat in the locker room. The energy that they provided tonight, and all the fans, made a great atmosphere for our players.”
USF fought back and cut the Knights’ lead to just nine points at the break. After two free throws by freshman B.J. Taylor, the Bulls’ Anthony Collins knocked down a jumper to make it 35-26 UCF at halftime.
The Bulls connected on back-to-back buckets to start the second half, cutting UCF’s lead to just five points, but the Knights responded. UCF used a 15-4 spurt to extend its lead to 50-34 with just over 10 minutes to play in the game. Wilson scored nine points during the stretch.
“He had a great effort tonight. I’m proud of Kasey,” Jones said of Wilson after the game. “He hasn’t practiced in 10 days and just got cleared to play today, so after the game I told him he didn’t have to practice anymore. Just show up to the games.”
UCF increased the lead to as many as 20 and the Bulls cut it to just nine points with under four minutes to play, but the game was never really in doubt as the Knights cruised to the 73-62 victory.
