UCF basketball preview: UCF Seeking Second Place As Southern Miss Visits Orlando

CUSA Fans new UCF Correspondent Ryan Westin brings us a preview of the basketball game between the UCF Golden Knights and the Golden Eagles of Southern Miss.

UCF looks to take advantage of a loss by Houston, as they now control their own destiny in the Conference USA standings when they host Southern Miss on Wednesday night in the UCF Arena. The Golden Knights are now back in a tie for second place in the C-USA standings and will play three of their final four regular season games at the UCF Arena. UCF will host the Houston Cougars next Wednesday night in what could be a battle for second place in the conference.

This match-up features two teams that are playing very well as of late. The Golden Knights are tied for second in the league and the Golden Eagles have pulled into a tie for fourth. This will be the first meeting of the season, as well as the first since the programs met for the first time ever last season. UCF was able to muster a come from behind victory at Southern Miss, 59-51, in that game. USM is currently shooting 44.8 percent from the field and is hitting 33.8 percent of their shots from beyond the arc.

Young Guns
Jeremy Wise leads the Golden Eagles. The freshman guard is averaging 17 points a contest. Wise is only one of many freshmen and sophomores logging considerable minutes. There are no seniors on the squad but there are seven freshmen, two sophomores and three juniors.

Southern Miss was able to assist the Golden Knights on Monday by notching a home win over Houston who was one game ahead of the Knights before the loss. UCF is now able to win out and secure a second place finish in the overall standings. This would translate into a better seed in the conference tournament in two weeks as well as a first round bye which goes to the top four in the conference standings.

UCF is now second in the conference in assists per game with 15.1 per contest. The Knights still lead the conference in shooting with 47.9 percent from the field, 73.2 percent from the charity strip and 40 percent from down town. UCF is now 16-2 in games in which they possess the lead at the break.

The Wednesday night match-up will be broadcast across the country on CSTV as Southern Miss looks to extend their winning streak to four games. UCF has won four of its last five games. The Golden Eagles are now only one game behind UCF and could make a run at one of the four first round conference tournament byes with a schedule that requires them to travel to UCF and Tulane while they will play UAB and Marshall at Reed Green Coliseum in Hattiesburg.

Westin's Prediction
UCF 76 - Southern Miss 69

Who's Next?
The Golden Knights will travel out west again as they will head to Tulsa on Saturday to take on the Golden Hurricane. The Golden Knights will be looking to lock up a first round bye in the Conference USA tournament as they play their final road game of the season. Three of their final four regular season games are at the UCF Arena.

UCF's remaining schedule

2/24 @ Tulsa

2/28 Houston

3/3 East Carolina

3/7-10 Conference USA Tournament