PROVIDENCE, R.I - The American Athletic Conference started week six of the collegiate men's basketball season with a victory as -/rv UCF got a career night from senior B.J. Taylor to down Georgia Southern, 95-88. Taylor scored a career-high 35 points to set the new high-water scoring mark in the conference this season. He becomes the sixth player to join the 30-point club in The American for 2018-19.
Tuesday, December 11
While UCF has been one of the top defensive programs in the nation the last two and half seasons under head coach Johnny Dawkins, the Knights weren't able to hold Georgia Southern down on defense. Instead, the Knights got it done on offense, winning a 95-88 shootout against the visiting Eagles Tuesday at CFE Arena.
Georgia Southern (6-3) came into the game at 6-2 and averaging 88.5 points per game. Thanks to some small ball later in the game and a career night from senior BJ Taylor, the Knights prevailed for their fourth straight win at home.
When the Eagles took a 77-74 lead with 4:20 to play, it was Taylor - The American Preseason Player of the Year - who took it upon himself to lift the Knights. The Orlando native hit threes on back-to-back possessions and scored 15 points over the final 3:58 of the game.
Taylor finished with a career-high 35 points and went 6-of-9 from three-point range. He scored 27 of his 35 in the second half and added five assists with just one turnover.
It wasn't just Taylor though. For UCF to outscore the Eagles, the Knights needed to put five players in double figures for the first time this season.
Tacko Fall scored 14, Terrell Allen had 12, Collin Smith totaled 11 and Aubrey Dawkins chipped in with 10. The Knights shot 50.0 percent from the field, including a 58.6 second half clip.
Smith was turned to late in the game when UCF needed to go small to keep up with the Georgia Southern offense. Smith played center with Fall on the bench, and came up with a big three-point play to put UCF up 83-79 with just 2:41 to play. He also finished with 10 rebounds for his second double-double of the season.
The 95 points overall were the most in a game for the Knights under Dawkins. UCF is now 8-2 on the season, marking the program's best start since the 2011-12 season.
UPCOMING GAMES