UCF pulls off huge upset in Big 12 home debut by defeating No. 3 Kansas
The No. 3 Kansas Jayhawks just could not get rid of the pesky UCF Knights basketball team Wednesday night. UCF pulled off its biggest victory in program history with a shocking 65-60 victory over the Jayhawks, but the biggest talk after the game was the UCF fans.
On a day when the biggest new in sports was the retirement announcement of Alabama coach Nick Saban, the Knights tried to top it. The fans fans didn’t care.
Most of the 9,469 bodies in attendance at Addition Financial Arena stormed to court as the clock hit zeroes and the party was on. The crowd was on its feet and loud the entire way and it energized the Knights en route to the big win.
“Man, the court storming was crazy. I’ve never seen nothing like that,” UCF guard Jaylin Sellers said. “I kinda got up out of there. I just went to the locker room. I ain’t never seen that many people around like that at no time.”
It was a team effort that had to have coach Johnny Dawkins beaming and the Knights sellout crowd was loud and into it. He wanted his team to keep its composure Wednesday, and it did.
“I’ve seen it like this on several occasions over the years,” Dawkins said, “so I know it has a chance to be special, this environment. This is probably the entertinament capital of the world, definitely in our country … we want to be one of the attractions.”
Dawkins was caught on video my the Knights video crew after the game and posted on X (formerly known as Twitter) after the game @ucfknights.
https://x.com/ucfknights/status/1745270166009622565?s=46&t=m3tLFeyNFkKBRvV4iDuJoA
Darius Johnson hit a pair of free throws with 14.8 seconds left before Kansas missed two desperation 3-pointers as time ran out.
“Obviously we’re super excited,” Johnson said, “but, you know, we’re not shocked. We always know we can be able to compete at a high level. Moving forward we need to continue to work hard and continue to practice at a high level.”
It was the highest-ranked team UCF has ever beaten. The Knights beat No. 4 UConn in 2011 in the Battle of Atlantis. The Knights defeated No. 6 Houston 69-64 in 2019 followed by a 58-55 victory over No. 19 Cincinnati.
Johnson finished with 17 points, Sellers had 18 and Ibrahima Diallo had 13 points and played tremendous defense to lead the Knights.
UCF’s 7-footer Diallo was blanketing Kansas 7-foot-2 center Hunter Dickinson all night, blocking shots, grabbing rebounds and putting shots over top of Dickinson’s outstretched arms. Dickinson struggled on defense with Diallo and picked up his fourth foul with 1:52 remaining.
“I loved it. The crowd was so exciting and we needed to give them something,” Diallo said.
Diallo had a short baseline jumper that broke a tie game at 59-57 with three minutes left and the Knights maintained that lead the rest of the way.
“I needed this one and there was something like I needed to improve,” said Diallo, a native of Senegal. “We work like the same thing every day in practice. My teammates trust me and they give me the ball, so I have to [convert]”
It was a far cry from the Knights’ performance in their Big 12 opener at Kansas State on Saturday, losing 77-52.
UCF used a variation of defenses throughout the contest, throwing an uncharacteristic zone at the Jayhawks, as well as a match-up zone and some full-court man-to-man.
“They’ve got a talented bunch,” Kansas coach Bill Self said of UCF. “Can they beat anybody in our league in this building? Absolutely they can. … [especially] if the fans do their job like they did tonight.”
Kevin McCullar Jr. led the Jayhawks with 16 points and he said he was not surprised with the competitive level the UCF players provided.
“It’s the Big 12. Every away game is going to be a tough environment,” McCullar said. “It was a big crowd tonight .”
UCF came alive in the second half, surging to a 50-44 lead with a 21-7 run in the first nine minutes. It seemed that every Knights player had a piece in the turnabout. Sellers was making plays all over, Johnson was burying 3s, Diallo was a force in the paint and C.J. Walker was applying some feisty defense.
There were times when it appeared Kansas would run away with this game, but UCF kept clawing back.
In the first three minutes of the game, UCF had everybody fired up. After missing their first two shots, the Knights maintained possession with a pair of offensive rebounds, culminating in a 3-pointer from Sellers. UCF hit three straight baskets and led the Jayhawks 7-0, prompting a timeout by KU coach Bill Self.
Three minutes later, the game was tied 7-7, and Kansas (13-2, 2-1 Big 12) began its roll and eventually led by 16 points in UCF’s first home game as a member of the BIg 12 Conference.
UCF (10-4, 1-1) did not surrender. The Knights kept fighting. In the first half, every time it appeared as if the Jayhawks were about to run away, UCF would fight back. Trailing 23-12 with 9:05 left before halftime, UCF got a shot-clock-beating 3-pointer from Sellers and the crowd lit up again.
On the ensuing KU possession, CJ Walker came up with a steal and he raced down the court for a breakaway layup, but KU’s Nicolas TImberlake tracked him down and hammered him before the shot. The foul caused a bit of a dust-up under the basket and nearly into the seats as security quickly rallied to control the situation. UCF’s Thierno Sylla came off the bench during the altercation and was ejected from the game.
UCF got within 23-17, but KU ripped off another run of eight straight points and threatened to pull away again, 35-19 with 3:44 left in the half.
But back stormed UCF with its own 10-0 run and the Knights trailed just 37-29 at the break.
Chris Hays covers high school and college football and college football recruiting. You can find him on X @OC_ChrisHays and on Instagram @OS_ChrisHays. He can be reached vis email at chays@orlandosentinel.com.