Injuries sideline stars, but clutch plays and depth secure a nail-biting victory. Fulks and Johnson rise to the occasion.
The Knights (19-7, 8-6 Big 12) escaped Salt Lake City with a 73-71 victory over Utah (10-17, 2-12 Big 12) despite being without leading scorer Riley Kugel.
Kugel suffered a lower leg injury late in UCF's last contest against TCU which kept him sidelined Saturday night. UCF's leading bench scorer, junior point guard Chris Johnson took Kugel's place in the starting five, filling in nicely.
Johnson scored eight points while converting a game-high five assists and zero turnovers. He also had the pass of the night, finding junior forward Jordan Burks with a drift pass in the corner for a go-ahead 3-pointer with just over 30 seconds to play.
The Knights led most of the second half until Utah took a brief 60-59 lead with at the under-eight minute media timeout. But, UCF fifth-year point guard Themus Fulks delivered clutch buckets to help the Knights jump back in front.
After senior Utah guard Don McHenry answered Burks' 3-pointer with three clutch free-throw makes, UCF now had the ball and a chance to win. Dawkins decided to hand the ball to Fulks, who drove left, drawing a foul and knocking down the game-winning free-throws. Fulks finished with a game-high 24 points, including the biggest two shots of the night from the charity stripe.
Following the game, Fulks gave a simple response on his mindset during the last few minutes of the game.
"I'm just playing basketball."
Fulks also gave credit to his teammates for being ready and picking up the slack left from Kugel's injury.
Junior guard Carmelo Pacheco was a game-time decision, like Kugel, but was able to sub in midway through the first half. He immediately reminded UCF about what he can do from deep, knocking down a 3-pointer almost immediately after checking in. He also nailed a deep-ball in the second half to halt Utah's late run.
Burks had another strong game, scoring 14 points while notching four steals and a block. Coming off of a career-high 23 point performance, Burks opened up the scoring for UCF again, finding himself wide open under the hoop for an easy, two-hand flush.
The Knights stay west for their final quad-1 opportunity of the regular season, taking on No. 23 Brigham Young University (BYU) and AJ Dybantsa, the potential No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft.
BYU picked up a big win Saturday night, defending home floor against the No. 6 Iowa State Cyclones.
UCF tips off Tuesday at 11:00 p.m.
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