UCF Basketball Recap: Houston drops hammer in second half, comes back to defeat UCF, 73-70

Cougars overcome 22-point second half deficit in victory

CUSA Fans UCF Correspondent David Gomez brings the latest update on the UCF Golden Knights basketball team.

The Golden Knights traveled to Hofheinz Pavilion in Houston for a mid-week match-up with the Cougars on Wednesday night. The Knights were seeking their fourth consecutive victory and their second straight versus Houston. They defeated the Cougars, 66-56, on January 14, 2006, a win that was the program’s first in Conference USA play. It looked as though UCF was well on its way to the desired result when it carried a commanding 20-point lead into the locker room at the break. Not so fast, as Tom Penders’ Cougars had something to say about that in the second half.

The Knights (14-5, 3-2) have consistently started games well this season, but eventually end up falling apart in the second 20 minutes. Wednesday night was no different, except that they did not pull it off in the end.

UCF went into halftime with a 35-15 lead, but the Cougars outscored the Knights, 49-29, after the break to complete the comeback and send the game into overtime where they would outscore UCF, 9-6. With the much-needed win, UH improved to 8-9 overall and 3-2 in the league.

Coach Kirk Speraw told ucfathletics.com, “Our guys have to understand that it is a 40-minute game. We need somebody with a little poise and leadership to take control. We’ve got to find some people who can execute in tough situations. When we have a lead, we need to put the hammer down.”

The Cougars did not take their first lead until Robert McKiver made a one-handed jump shot with 3:05 left in overtime. Marcus Malone’s three-pointer with 43 seconds left in the extra period put UH up by three.

With six seconds left the Knights fouled Oliver Lafayette, and he went on to make both free throws to extend the lead back to three. Jermaine Taylor’s desperation 3-pointer with a second to go bounced off the rim and left the Knights feeling like they let one get away.

Lavell Payne scored a career-high 26 points for UCF while Taylor had 12 and guard Dave Noel added 11. The Knights also shot 46.5 percent overall for the game, but just 21.1 percent from the beyond the arc. The Knights did have a great night from the free throw line, as they made 26-of-31 attempts (83.9 percent).

Houston ’s McKiver totaled a game-high 36 points, with 25 of them coming in the second half. The Cougars only shot 38.2 percent overall, but it was enough for them to steal the victory from the Knights.

UCF will need a little dose of amnesia, as they will be traveling to El Paso for the first time since December 15, 1978 to play a very good UTEP team. The Miners are extremely difficult to beat in the Don Haskins Center and the Golden Knights can ill-afford to have a hangover.