Already reeling from their third straight loss, the UCF Knights face yet another tough opponent as they play the No.19 BYU Cougars on the road Tuesday 9 PM EST at Mariott Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. The Knights suffered consecutive losses to Baylor (69-77), Oklahoma (63-74), and Texas Tech (59-66). These setbacks have further buried UCF in the standings with 13-9 overall record and 4-6 in Big 12.
With roughly two weeks before March Madness, the Knights need a big win to turn things around on their favor. Tuesday’s showdown with BYU will present Central Florida the opportunity to score a momentum-changing win on the road, where they are 1-5 this season.
The Knights will try to avoid a second loss to the Cougars within a month after succumbing to the same time in a 63-58 nailbiter at home last January 13. Darius Johnson led UCF in scoring that night, dropping 18 points on 6-for-18 shooting in 38 minutes of play. Big man Ibrahima Diallo racked up a double with 19 big rebounds and 11 points, while Jaylin Seller chipped in with 13 markers.
UCF went basket-for-basket against BYU throughout the game. However, poor late game execution and a cold 3-for-17 three-point shooting cost them the game. Central Florida couldn’t find ways to stop BYU’s Aly Khalifa, who finished with 17 points on 6-for-12 shooting.
BYU have won four of their last seven games since their recent meeting with UCF, including statement wins against No.10 ranked Iowa State 87-72 and Kansas State 72-66.The Knights will need big scoring nights from their stars like Johnson and Diallo, and a much better shooting percentage from the 3-point line in order to come through with a win over the No.19 ranked BYU.