UCF basketball's 2nd-half rally falls short in home loss to Baylor
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ORLANDO — UCF's surprising basketball season took another unexpected twist Saturday, Feb. 28; this one for the worse.
The Knights clawed back from a 14-point halftime deficit to tie the score late, but Obi Agbim drew a foul on a 3-pointer with 1.3 seconds left and made a go-ahead free throw to lift Baylor to an 87-86 upset at Addition Financial Arena.
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Cameron Carr scored 20 of his 26 points in a dominant first half for the visiting Bears (15-14, 5-11 Big 12) in which they hit 8 of 15 attempts from 3-point range and grabbed nine of their 16 offensive rebounds.
Riley Kugel matched Carr, a projected NBA draft pick, with 26 points but was called for the decisive foul. Jordan Burks added 12 points, and John Bol blocked five Baylor shots for the Knights (20-8, 9-7).
"Coach (Johnny Dawkins) emphasizes not to foul jump-shooters," said Jamichael Stillwell, who was guilty of a similar infraction late in UCF's win at Utah last weekend. "If he makes the shot, he makes the shot, you know? It's going to be a tough shot as long as you're there."
UCF won each of its previous three games, headlined by a top-25 road blowout of BYU to move into near-lock position for its first at-large NCAA Tournament berth since 2019. However, the Knights will look to avoid a late stumble as March begins.
Here are three takeaways from the Knights' missed opportunity at home to build upon momentum.
UCF opened 2nd half on 16-4 run, tied game twice late
Baylor closed the first half by hitting nine of its final 10 field goal attempts, taking advantage as both Stillwell and Bol picked up two fouls and Jeremy Foumena departed due to injury.
But, the Knights responded immediately out of halftime by scoring the first 10 points of the second half and stretching out the run to 16-4 over 5½ minutes. Jordan Burks drained a 3-pointer in the right corner to cut the deficit to 60-58, but Baylor countered with nine of the next 12 points.
The Bears held an 11-point lead with 6:28 remaining in regulation as UCF embarked on another 9-0 run.
UCF finally pulled even — twice — in the final 68 seconds. Stillwell hit an off-balance floater in the paint, and Devan Cambridge knocked down a pair of clutch free throws with 25.9 seconds on the clock. The Knights shot 60.7% from the field after halftime, assisting on 13 of their 17 field goals.
"Our guys are very competitive, and they're going to keep competing for 40 minutes," Dawkins said. "I think they've shown that, for the most part throughout the season, they have that ability to really dig down deep and find that quality that you've got to have in order to try to rally. You hate to be in those positions, but our guys … have done a good job of fighting for UCF and giving everything they have on the floor."
Riley Kugel, Jamichael Stillwell return to UCF starting lineup
UCF returned home from its two-game trip through Utah with significant injury questions, one which Dawkins largely sidestepped Friday aside from considering seniors Kugel and Stillwell "day-to-day."
Both players participated fully in pre-game warmups and started for UCF. Kugel missed the previous two games after limping to the locker room following the win over TCU, while Stillwell suffered an apparent right ankle/foot injury and needed help down the tunnel in the final five minutes at BYU.
Stillwell emerged from the locker room in Provo wearing a walking boot.
"I felt better about Riley, the last day or so, that he may be able to go. Jamichael, I didn't know until pretty much game-time," Dawkins said. "He warmed up right before the game in the last 20 minutes down, and that's when he said he thought he could give it a go."
However, the Knights suffered another blow as Foumena took a hard fall midway through the first half after missing a spinning layup. Trainers helped the 6-foot-11, 250-pound redshirt junior off the court as he was unable to put weight on his left leg.
Foumena missed four contests after sustaining a knee injury Jan. 20 at Iowa State. For the season, he entered the night averaging 4.0 points and 2.6 rebounds per game.
"He took a tough fall. We'll see," Dawkins said. "We're going to do everything we can to treat him and get him healthy as fast as we can because we missed him out there tonight. … I don't have an update as to where he is right now."
UCF faces Oklahoma State on March 3 in home finale
UCF has just one home date left on its regular-season schedule, a rematch with Oklahoma State set for 7 p.m. on March 3.
Oklahoma State snapped the Knights' 11-game winning streak and effectively knocked the Knights out of The Associated Press' Top 25 with an 87-76 win in Stillwater on Jan. 6. UCF made just 7 of 33 attempts from 3-point range that night, and Parsa Fallah controlled the paint with a game-high 24 points.
The Cowboys, however, have slumped since the early days of February — with just one win in their last seven games. They lost 91-68 earlier Saturday at Cincinnati, falling to 17-12 overall and 5-11 in the Big 12.
"I haven't seen Oklahoma State since the last time we played them, but I know they're very good and they have really good players," Dawkins said. "And I know they're coached well, like I said with all the teams in the league. So we have to prepare for them accordingly, starting tonight."
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: UCF Knights basketball: 3 takeaways from loss to Baylor