After leading for most of the contest, the UCF men’s basketball team powered through adversity late against Oregon State in the first round of the inaugural College Basketball Crown, making a defensive stand in the game’s final moments to advance with a 76-75 win from MGM Grand Garden Arena.

"I thought both teams gave a winning effort, we just made one more play than they did and I'm proud of our guys for that and I'm happy that we were able to advance. For us, we're excited about the opportunity. Our guys had a good season, we wish we had a better season, but we had a good season and that's why we've earned this opportunity to play in the Crown and to play in the postseason which is always an honor."

Johnny Dawkins UCF Men's Basketball Head Coach

Oregon State opened the contest with a three, only to be answered with a second-chance triple from Nils Machowski. Next trip down the floor, Machowski struck again on the fastbreak that stemmed from a Dallan ‘Deebo’ Coleman steal. The Beavers and Knights traded the next three makes, starting a 6-0 run for Oregon State to go up 11-7 at the first media timeout.

A 64% start from the field helped Oregon State build a 19-12 lead just over eight minutes in. Out of the timeout, the Knights forced a miss and cashed in with a three from Tyler Hendricks. He struck again two possessions later, collecting a rebound and laying it in to trim the deficit to two. Riding a hot streak, Hendricks buried another triple next trip down to put the Knights up 20-19 with 9:25 to play in the first.

After a pair of made free throws, Jordan Ivy-Curry found his way onto the statsheet, burying a deep triple to go up 23-21. Oregon State drew even at 23 all before the Knights pulled in front by five thanks to a pullup shot from Benny Williams and a Darius Johnson three.

The Beavers kept it close until a 7-0 UCF surge powered the Knights to a nine-point lead before the break. Moustapha Thiam got the run started with a dunk off an Ivy-Curry feed. Coleman pulled up from long range, adding three points to the tally. Hendricks collected another rebound with 17 seconds left in the half and put it back in to finish the half strong.

Machowski tied his career-high in points in just one half, posting 13 points with three triples. Hendricks was close behind, posting a career-high 10 points while pulling in six rebounds. The Knights finished the half with eight triples on 19 attempts for a 42% clip from deep, complimenting it with a 49% mark from the field.

Oregon State scored eight of the first 10 points of the second, starting with an and-one. A pair of Machowski free throws gave him his career-high and briefly put the Knights back in front by eight. A three and a pair of free throws for the Beavers trimmed their deficit to three. UCF slowly built the lead back to seven, taking a 57-50 lead thanks to a Hendricks three. A 12-4 run Oregon State sprint erased the Knights’ advantage, putting them behind 62-61 with 9:21 to play.

Neither team built a lead bigger than one possession the rest of the way. After surrendering the lead, UCF jumped back up by three with buckets from Hendricks and Coleman. Oregon State seized control, going up 70-69 after back-to-back makes with 4:08 to play. Another Knights make was answered with two more layups as the Beavers led 74-71 with 2:32 remaining.

After a few bunny hop misses and offensive rebounds, Thiam cut the deficit to one with a tap in with 2:01 to go.  Oregon State missed on their end, leading to two made Johnson free throws with 92 seconds left to give UCF a 75-74 advantage. Oregon State was fouled at the other end on the next possession, hitting one of two from the charity stripe, tying the score with 1:15 to play.

Thiam worked his way to the rim to collect an offensive rebound before getting fouled with 55 ticks left. He hit one of two from the free throw line, edging the Knights in front. With 13 seconds left, UCF missed a layup, giving Oregon State a chance to win the game on the final possession. With 5.4 seconds left, the Beavers called timeout to draw up one final play. The Knights sniffed it out, advancing to the quarterfinals of the College Basketball Crown.

Hendricks earned his first career double-double, scoring 15 points while hauling in 10 rebounds. Johnson and Machowski matched Hendricks’ points, tying the team lead with 15 points. Thiam also finished with double-digit points, scoring 10 points while pulling in nine boards.

The win marks UCF’s first win in the month of April in program history as well as the first victory over Oregon State in the inaugural meeting between the two teams. Coach Dawkins improves to 11-7 as a head coach against the Beavers, including winning seven of the last nine meetings over the program.

The Knights buried 10 triples in the contest, the 14th time this season and the fourth time in the last five games. UCF boasts 296 made threes this season which stands as the program’s new single-season record. The Black and Gold also achieved the most points in a single season in program history, tallying 2,693 points, topping the former record of 2,617 scored during the 1979-80 campaign.

UCF as secured four straight winning seasons with Tuesday’s victory, the second such stint in Coach Dawkins’ nine-year tenure with the Knights. Dawkins and the Knights are taking part in their fifth postseason in his nine seasons with the Black and Gold; Dawkins is in his 10th postseason in his 17 years as a head coach.

UP NEXT
The Knights will meet up with conference-foe Cincinnati in the quarterfinals of the College Basketball Crown on Thursday, April 3 at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT. The contest will be televised on FS1.