Written by Adrian Beecher
Orlando, FL – UCF Men’s Basketball wrapped up the regular season with a win on Senior day at CFE Arena. AJ Davis took his final bow in front of the Knights faithful, joining the elusive 1,000 point club at UCF with his first basket of the game.
Davis finished with 11 points, and six boards as BJ Taylor led the team in scoring with 19 in a 61-60 victory over the Tulane Green Wave. The win secured the Knights a 6th place seed in this week’s AAC Tournament. With a lack of marquee wins on their resume, they will need a shocking run to an AAC Tourney Title for any chance to catch a bid to the “Big Dance.”
Tulane kept things interesting in the early going in Orlando, at the half they trailed by just seven points. Then as the second half started, a quick basket for the Knights made it nine points, eventually extending to 12 with just 16:47 left to play.
Then over the next five minutes, the Green Wave kicked things up a notch. Cameron Reynolds hit a jumper for Tulane to start and 10-2 run, cutting the UCF lead to just two points. The Knight shooting during the span was a deplorable 1 of 10.
The Green Wave would tie the game up at 38 with 10:50 left to play. Then things got much tighter with UCF regaining the lead and steadily matching Tulane over the next nine minutes. Ray Ona Embo hit a triple that gave the Green Wave their lone lead of the second half with 7:20 left on the clock.
After taking the lead once again, the Knights would never relinquish it. Tulane managed to tie the game back up at 50 with 2:38 left to play. However, after that, UCF shut the Green Wave down, ending the game on an 11-1 run, sealing the home victory.
The Knight’s will look to ride this momentum as they tip off their bid at an AAC Tournament title on Thursday evening at the Amway Center in downtown Orlando. UCF plays in the 9 p.m. against 11th seeded ECU. The winner will advance to the quarterfinals in a matchup against 3rd seeded Houston.