UCF had designs on ending its three-game losing streak Sunday afternoon at the Fertitta Center on the Houston campus in the last of three consecutive road games for the Knights.
Eleventh-rated Houston, the top-rated defensive team in the country (allowing 56.4 points per game), had other ideas.
The Cougars (11-1 overall, 6-1 in American Athletic Conference action) hit their first four shots, all three-pointers, broke out to a 15-2 lead and never looked back in defeating Johnny Dawkins' squad 75-58.
"I respect the way they play. They've been the cream of our league. We've played some very good teams this year, and none have been better than Houston," said the Knights' head coach.
UCF (3-5, 1-4) got 14 points off the bench from 6-9 freshman Jamille Reynolds (he hit five of his seven shots) to go with 12 each from Darin Green Jr. (all in the second half) and Dre Fuller Jr. Senior Brandon Mahan had 10 points and eight rebounds, while freshman Isaiah Adams contributed eight points and a game-high 10 rebounds.
"It was a huge game for Jamille—plus doing it against a team like Houston. He stabilized us inside and gave us a presence down there, and he's only going to continue to get better," said Dawkins.
The Knights could not recover from that tough start, though they outscored the home team 39-30 in the final half as their second-half point total more than doubled their first-half output. UCF's defense limited Houston to 37.5% shooting after intermission, as the Knights actually ended up both outshooting and outrebounding the Cougars. Twenty turnovers for UCF made the day's assignment more difficult.
"We established ourselves a little more the second half. We got some stops which was hugely important in being able to make a few runs," Dawkins said.
"It's hard for me to make excuses. At the end of the day we've got to take care of the ball better, especially the unforced turnovers. We've got to make better decisions."
UCF went more than 10 minutes without a field goal in the first half. Adams notched a lay-in at the 14:37 mark as Houston led 17-4—but the Knights' next basket (only their third of the game) came at the 4:27 stop by Sean Mobley as the Cougars still held a 35-9 advantage.
"I was disappointed how we started the game," said Dawkins. "Give Houston a lot of credit. They executed their game plan very well--they made a lot of shots to start the first half and kind of knocked us back. We had a game plan and strategy, and I did not think we executed it well at all to start. We gave them some of the looks we were trying to take away. We have to be better than that."
UCF went on a 7-0 run to cut the deficit to 38-16 and knocked down its last four shots of the half for a 45-19 halftime score. The Knights had 12 first-half turnovers (compared to four for Houston) and shot 35.3% while making only a single three-pointer.
Houston in the first half benefited from a 27-4 run and led by as many as 29 at 38-9 with 3:43 to go. Five of Houston's eight three-pointers came in the first five minutes of the contest.
The Cougars were paced by Quentin Grimes who had 18 points and Justin Gorham who added 15 plus nine rebounds.
The final margin marked the closest UCF had been since Houston led 21-4 seven minutes into the contest.
Darius Perry did not play for UCF for a second straight game after averaging 18 points in his two most recent outings.
The Knights return home to play host to SMU (7-2 heading into a Wednesday road date at Tulane) at 2 p.m. EST Saturday at Addition Financial Arena. Tickets are available for the game which will be shown on ESPNU.
"We've got to do some soul-searching, we have to get together and we have to right the ship," said Dawkins. "There's only one way to do it and that's by going out there with energy and effort for 40 minutes. We have to do that better than we have the last few games. We have a week to get healthier and get better."
