UCF basketball: 3 reasons to like Knights' undefeated start to 2024-25 season

UCF basketball: 3 reasons to like Knights’ undefeated start to 2024-25 season

Posted by Admin November 18, 2024 Basketball

Already receiving votes in the USA TODAY Sports Men’s Basketball Coaches Poll, and knocking on the door of the top 25, UCF is off to a 3-0 start for just the second time in its last seven seasons.

The Knights scored a victory against a top-15 opponent to kick off the campaign and defended their home floor further against a solid pair of mid-majors. Senior guard Darius Johnson moved to within six points of becoming the 21st player in program history to record 1,000 points.

UCF coach Johnny Dawkins said his group — featuring nine arrivals from the transfer portal and two true freshmen — is still learning to play together. Results suggest the team might be ahead of schedule, an important development two months before league play in, perhaps, the deepest basketball conference in the country.

Ahead of Tuesday’s contest against Tennessee Tech, here are three things to like about how the Knights have started the 2024-25 season.

UCF unfazed by slow starts, early 3-point shooting woes

Dawkins stated Tuesday that his team has “got to get better” at the start of games. UCF missed its first eight shots against Texas A&M, its first nine versus Purdue Fort Wayne and fell into a 10-1 hole against Florida Atlantic within two minutes.

And yet, UCF has managed to absorb early punches from its opponents and counter successfully over the course of 40 minutes.

On Tuesday, the Knights shook off a three-point shooting slump to sink 13 of their 28 attempts from beyond the arc. In their first two games, they combined to make 10 of 46 three-pointers — a conversion rate that ranked near the bottom of Division I.

To combat those initial woes, UCF consistently worked its way to the free-throw line. The Knights average 28.7 free-throw attempts per game and 22.7 made free throws per game (10th in Division I).

If its performance against FAU is more in line with what’s to come, UCF’s offense should make a substantial jump from a season ago when it finished near the bottom third of the country in scoring.

Stacking quality non-conference wins ahead of Big 12 grind

UCF projects to have one of the tougher schedules in college basketball when all is said and done, playing nine games against teams ranked in the preseason Coaches Poll — including home-and-home dates with Kansas and Iowa State.

That will afford the Knights plenty of opportunities to boost their résumé all the way to March, but they have already picked up three solid non-conference victories as well.

Texas A&M began the year at No. 15 in the poll, returning 80% of its offensive production from a squad that reached the second round of last year’s NCAA tournament. Purdue Fort Wayne is the co-favorite, along with Milwaukee (UCF’s opponent on Nov. 27), to win the Horizon League. Florida Atlantic underwent a roster overhaul after back-to-back NCAA appearances and a coaching change, but the Owls scored 196 points in their first two outings and should contend in the American Athletic Conference.

UCF will have two chances to gain valuable neutral-site victories next week against Power Four programs, squaring off with Wisconsin and either LSU or Pittsburgh in the Greenbrier Tip-Off in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia.

6 UCF Knights have at least 1 double-digit scoring outing

Dawkins’ teams will always have a defense-first mentality, but Tuesday’s win over FAU proved the Knights can score the basketball in a variety of ways. Six players have recorded at least one game in double figures.

Johnson and Jordan Ivy-Curry are the team’s most dependable 3-point marksmen. Keyshawn Hall has consistently flashed his spin move around the rim and some touch from beyond the arc. Freshman center Moustapha Thiam had a career-high 13 points against Purdue Fort Wayne, in addition to his rim-protection prowess.

Off the bench, JJ Taylor made an instant impact at both ends of the floor in the upset of Texas A&M, and Benny Williams got into a mid-range rhythm with 17 points against FAU.

And reinforcements are still to come for Dawkins’ group. He reiterated this week that guards Jaylin Sellers (unspecified) and Mikey Williams (left ankle) are “day to day” due to their respective injuries.

Sellers led the Knights in scoring last season at 15.9 points per game, and he did so while recovering from a broken left hand suffered in August 2023. Redshirt freshman Williams, meanwhile, was viewed as one of the 10 best combo guard recruits in the country in his graduating year by 247Sports.