Written by Zach Bartkus
Orlando, FLA. – The CFE Arena was rocking on Thursday night as the #25 UCF Knights took on the #20 Cincinnati Bearcats. This was the first ever Top 25 matchup at the CFE, and the first time UCF has been inside the Top 25 since the 2010-11 season when the won their first 14 games of that campaign. Tonight was also Senior Night in Orlando where UCF honored their five seniors on the team this year, one of them being Center, Tacko Fall. It was Senior Night and the first ever Top 25 matchup, but for Tacko the night was even more special.
Fall hadn’t seen his mother in seven years up until Sunday night, and this was the first time she was able to see her son play for UCF. “It was the same feeling as when he was born and I had him in my arms”, Fall’s mother said postgame. On a very special night he was able to perform in a very special way, Fall put up 10 points, six rebounds, an assist and three blocks.
The game began with a Tacko Fall dunk followed by an Aubrey Dawkins three-point shot putting the Knights up 5-0 to start. The Bearcats would answer back with five points of their own and there was a game to be had. The teams would stay within a few points of each other until UCF pulled away, going on an 8-0 run making the score 29-19 with just over 2 minutes to play in the first half. The Bearcats Trevon Scott, would tack on two points before both teams headed into the locker room with UCF leading 29-21.
“You can tell these are two of the best defensive teams in our conference and in the country.” is what UCF head coach Johnny Dawkins said about the battle between the two teams. “You’re not gonna get anything easy, you have to earn everyone one of [the points].” Both teams showed up defensively tonight, but UCF’s defense seemed to make more of an impact. Chad Brown and Tacko Fall had 3 blocks each and Cincinnati head coach Mick Cronin noticed it, saying this about Fall after the game “Tacko presents a lot of problems”. Yes, it is as simple as that, the 7’6 center from Senegal will cause problems for any team. The combo of those two seniors down low made the difference in the game tonight. Their physical presence helped the Knights dominate the paint and get rebounds when they were needed.
Starting the second half, Cincinnati scored four unanswered points and hushed the raging UCF fans. The second half would be played like every other UCF men’s basketball game. The Knights would go on to take their lead back but slowly let the Bearcats creep back in and have their chance to come back and take a road win. The momentum was shifting Cincinnati’s way until Tacko made his presence felt once more with 2 massive blocks on Cincinnati’s Mamoudou Diarra to let the shot clock run to zero and force a turnover from the Bearcats. Just 2 seconds after the Fall blocks, BJ Taylor nailed a three-point shot to put the Knights back up by five with 5:43 left in the game.
“He saves his best for last and he did it again tonight.” Coach Dawkins said postgame about Taylor. Taylor scored six of the Knights last seven points to put the Knights up by 3 and seal the game. UCF would win their first ever top 25 matchup 58-55 and only their seventh win over a ranked opponent. BJ Taylor finished with 22 points, six rebounds and an assist for the Knights as Trevon Scott finished with 20 points, nine rebounds and an assist.
The Knights now travel to Philadelphia to play Temple in their last regular season game of the season. Tip is at 4 PM ET Saturday, March 9th and will be aired on ESPN2. A win for the Knights would be their 24th on the season and the 14th in American conference play.
