Knights surge past Colorado in a high-scoring affair. Fulks ignites the offense, while Kugel delivers a clutch dagger.
UCF (15-4, 4-3 Big 12) ended a two-game skid Saturday afternoon, defeating Colorado (12-8, 2-5 Big 12) 95-86.
Colorado jumped out to a 7-0 lead, as junior point guard Barrington Hargress scored a quick five points. Hargress dominated the first half, scoring 18 and making all six of his shot attempts.
UCF point guard Themus Fulks immediately responded with a personal seven point flurry. Fulks first threw an alley-oop to sophomore center John Bol before nailing a tough layup and 3-pointer to knot the game at seven.
Fulks bounced back from a tough outing in UCF's last game against No. 9 Iowa State with 19 points and eight assists.
Senior guard Riley Kugel, has struggled in his last two games. Kugel is shooting just 11-33 during this time, and picked up early foul trouble against the Buffaloes.
After a stint on the bench, Kugel scored a quick five points, but picked up his third foul with just over four minutes to play.
The UCF bench made the most of Kugel's absence, scoring 26 points in the first period.
Sixth-year senior forward Devan Cambridge led the way with 11 points, hitting two 3-pointers and attacking the offensive glass for put-back opportunities.
Junior guard Carmelo Pacheco also had a nice half off the bench, nailing all three of his attempts from long range.
UCF made a whopping 77% (10-13) of its attempts from 3-point range, taking a slim 49-47 lead into the halftime break.
Fulks opened up the second half with three difficult buckets, helping the Knights hold a 60-56 advantage.
From there, Kugel took over. The Knights' leading scorer nailed four 3-pointers, helping UCF jump ahead by double-digits.
Freshman Colorado guard Isaiah Johnson cut the UCF lead to six with a 3-pointer with just over two minutes to play. On the following UCF possession, the ball was knocked out of bounds with six tenths of a second to play.
Kugel ran off a screen from the paint and caught the inbounds pass on the right wing, quickly releasing the shot and banking it in to secure the Knights' victory.
After a limited first half, Kugel finished with a game-high 22 points and a season-high six 3-pointers.
The UCF defense did a great job containing Hargress in the second half, holding him to just two free throws.
The Knights now return home for a showdown with a struggling Arizona State (10-9, 1-5 Big 12) squad Tuesday at 7:00 p.m.