UCF men’s basketball ends regular season with win, secures AAC’s No. 7 seed
Time and time again UCF forward Taylor Hendricks has shined for the Knights throughout his freshman season and Sunday was no different during the team’s regular-season finale vs. East Carolina.
The 6-foot-9 Hendricks, who’s projected as ESPN’s 19th-best available player in June’s NBA draft, powered the Knights to an 84-58 win over the visiting Pirates while recording his fifth double-double of the season with 25 points and 10 rebounds.
“You look at the second half of conference play, he’s been outstanding,” UCF coach Johnny Dawkins said about Hendricks, who scored 20-plus points for the sixth time. “He elevated his game everywhere.
“He’s been playing at a high level and he’s getting better.”
Hendricks was one of four Knights to finish in double digits, joining Ithiel Horton (19 points), C.J. Kelly (12) and Darius Johnson (10).
Ezra Ausar led ECU (15-16, 6-12 AAC) with 14 points while Brandon Johnson added 12.
With the win, UCF (17-13, 8-10 AAC) secured the No. 7 seed in the AAC tournament that starts Thursday in Fort Worth, Texas.
The Knights will face No. 10 seed SMU (10-21, 5-13 AAC) at 2:30 p.m. on ESPNU in the first round.
UCF and SMU met just once in the regular season, with Dawkins’ squad taking an 85-53 victory on Jan. 8 at home. If the Knights win and advance, they’ll face No. 2 seed Memphis at 7 p.m. Friday on ESPNU.
The Tigers (23-8, 13-5 AAC) and the Knights split their regular-season series, with UCF needing double-overtime to win 107-104 in the first meeting on Jan. 11 at home. On Feb. 16, the Knights fell on the road 64-63 to the Tigers in the final moments.
Before a meeting with Memphis, however, UCF must first get past SMU, a team the Knights faced once during the season.
What might help the Knights is the momentum gained during Sunday’s game, which they led the entire time. Heading into the matchup, UCF had lost 9 of its last 12 games.
“It’s been a trying season at times for us and we’ve gone through a lot, but I’m a big believer [that] usually tough lessons are lessons learned,” Dawkins said. “We’ve learned a lot of lessons this season.
“We need to build upon what we did [vs. ECU] going forward. We need to play with desperation and hunger in order to accomplish our goals.”
Prior to the game, four Knights — Kelly, Michael Durr, Brandon Suggs and Ty Freeman — were honored at halfcourt as part of senior-day celebrations.
Durr and Kelly have exhausted their eligibility but Freeman and Suggs have at least one season of eligibility remaining.
Three seniors — Horton, Lahat Thioune, and C.J. Walker — did not participate in the pre-game ceremony, indicating they could return to UCF next season. All three have at least one year of eligibility remaining.
The entire group hopes to extend its season later this week.
“What better time to get rolling than now with the tournament coming up?” Durr asked.
Email Jason Beede at jbeede@orlandosentinel.com or follow him on Twitter at @therealBeede.
()