Written by Brian Pohl
Columbia, SC- In the final game of the day from Columbia, South Carolina, the nine seed UCF Knights defeated the eight seed VCU Rams with a great defensive performance in the 73-58 victory.
In a battle between two great defenses, it was the Knights that had the upper hand, using the great size advantage with 7’6” center Tacko Fall to suffocate the paint, not allowing the Rams to use their drive and kick offense too much success throughout the game.
The first half started very slow, as neither team could get much going offensively. In fact, it took UCF until almost seven minutes into the game to get their first bucket. Once that shot fell, however, the Knights were able to stabilize their attack and build a ten-point lead going into halftime.
Aubrey Dawkins led the way for UCF in the first half with eight points and four rebounds, which coupled with Tacko Fall’s eight helped build an eight-rebound advantage over VCU at the break.
VCU’s offense struggled to hit their shots in the half, hitting just 28.6 percent from the field while not hitting a single three-pointer. Once they fell behind, their inability to hit their shots tonight became glaring, and that’s when UCF was able to pounce.
The Knights began to build on their lead immediately in the second half, striking a 9-0 run to begin the half and get out to a 19-point advantage over the Rams. This run set the tone for the rest of the game, as UCF would continue to knock down their shots on the way to the finish line.
BJ Taylor led the way for UCF overall with 15 points, including two 3-pointers late to ice the game for the Knights. Tacko Fall was also impressive, scoring 13 points while reeling in a massive 18 rebounds on the night.
The Knights shot just under 50 percent for the game, but it was enough as the Rams weren’t able to get in any rhythm thanks to the defensive effort from the Knights. UCF created 12 VCU turnovers in the game, which signifies the immense pressure by the Knights defense.
The win moves UCF on to the round of 32, where they will have the difficult task of facing the overall number one seed in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament in the Duke Blue Devils. The key matchup, and an incredibly fun one at that will be UCF’s Tacko Fall against Duke’s freshman superstar in Zion Williamson. How Zion handles the size of Fall will be interesting, and if UCF can use the size to their advantage, they may have a shot to pull off the upset.
UCF and Duke will face off Sunday, March, 24th in Columbia, Carolina, with the time of tip-off still to be determined.
