The UCF Knights broke their three-game losing streak as they went into Tuscaloosa, and came out with a 65-62 win against the No. 24 Alabama Crimson Tide.
The Knights (5-3) were led by redshirt sophomore guard Terrell Allen who had his most productive game as a Knight, finishing with 16 points on 6-10 shooting. He also tallied eight assists, five rebounds and four steals. Senior guard Djordjije Mumin and redshirt junior guard Dayon Griffin both finished in double digits in points with 11 and 10 respectively.
After starting off the game with some turnovers, falling behind by double digits early on, UCF was able to close the margin to 36-30 by halftime.
They took its first lead with 13:43 left in the second half and went on a scoring run after, which extended the UCF lead to nine with just over nine minutes remaining.
Alabama (6-2) tied the game up at 62-62 with 53 seconds left. UCF took back the lead 63-62 after an offensive charge call on redshirt senior guard A.J. Davis was reviewed and reversed, giving him free throws – hitting one of the two.
Allen got a steal on the following Alabama possession, turning into points on a Griffin layup. Alabama’s John Petty missed a three-pointer at the buzzer that would have tied the game.
UCF’s defense played well, holding Alabama to 43 percent shooting, including holding Alabama’s star freshman Colin Sexton – who came into the game averaging 24.7 points per game – to seven points on 0-4 shooting.
UCF is back at home on Saturday against Southern University.
