Everything UCF's Johnny Dawkins Said After Defeating TCU

The UCF Knights (18-7, 7-6 Big 12) returned to form, defeating the Texas Christian Horned Frogs, 82-71, Tuesday night at the Addition Financial Arena.

Coach Johnny Dawkins analyzed and reflected on his team's performance that snapped a three-game losing streak. UCF will have three days of rest before traveling to Utah to play the Utah Utes Saturday at the Jon M. Huntsman Center at 9 p.m. on ESPN+

Here's everything Dawkins told the media in his postgame press conference:

On what differences he saw in the team's victory over TCU:

"Well, I thought our guys put themselves in the same position in the second half, but I thought we did a much better job of closing. They made a good run. They're, of course, a very talented team. But I thought our guys did a better job of following the game plan, sticking to things we wanted to do to kind of finish the game out. And so I thought that the biggest difference from the West Virginia game and the TCU game was the ability to understand how to sustain and finish."

On what he saw in his team's fight: 

"You know, I thought we showed a lot of fight tonight, a lot of grit. They're [TCU] a tough team. They're physical, they have a well-balanced attack offensively, and so they rebound the ball well, and I thought we had to match that in all those phases, and I thought our guys did. I thought we came with desperation, and you have to have that this time of year. That's what makes college basketball so special, the desperation that you have to have coming down the stretch in February, and we had it. I thought we played that way from the opening tap, and we continued it throughout most of the game."

On how the team regrouped and responded after West Virginia's loss:

"I thought we did it by executing. I thought offensively, I thought we really moved the basketball and shared it. I thought you always tell by assist number how well we're doing on the offensive end when we're connecting. I thought we did that. It was hard to say who scored. It was kind of we scored throughout the night, and that was really good to see. And then defensively, especially the first half, I thought we did a terrific job defensively of understanding what we wanted to do with the game plan, and guys were flying around and making plays like I like to see. And of course, Jamichael Stillwell, I thought he gave us a huge lift. Obviously, him coming back. He adds so much to us, not just the rebound and the defense, but just the intangibles of the game. He just brings that extra. He's a leader. He knows how to play. He knows who he is as a player. So, it's good having him back."

On what he saw differently in the team's defensive performance:

"I thought our focus was better. I thought, like I said, our concentration was better during those stretches in the second half when they started making a run. They made several runs, and the team's going to do that. Team's going to get momentum just like we had momentum. It's what do you do? How do you change that momentum? How do you get back on track to doing the things you were doing to be successful? I thought we were able to do that in the second half in this game."

His thoughts on Jordan Burks 23 points, tying his career-high: 

"Well, I was just happy for Jordan. You know, Jordan has practiced well, and it's good to see you know in players' practice, like to see him go out and have success to kind of validate the work that you're putting in. And so he works very hard, and it's good to see him get rewarded out there by the type of play he had because I think he did a great job. Of course, he made shots, and he's a good shooter, but I like the fact that he was active on the boards. He had seven rebounds. He really helped us there against a very physical front line. So, yeah, I was really proud of his effort and the way he played tonight."

On if drawing plays for Burks was his intention to start the game:

"We just wanted to play off each other. We just really wanted to play off each other. Let the ball find the guy who has a great opportunity, and we play that way. And, just trust your teammates, you know, everyone trusting everyone on the floor. Tonight, it found Jordan. It could easily find Riley [Kugel]. It could find Themus [Fulks]. It could find a number of our players, you know, George Beale Jr., but the main thing is just keep playing for each other out there, and that's the way we want to have our team. That's the way UCF basketball should play."

His thought process on TCU's late 9-0 run in the second half:

"No, absolutely. You know, having been in that situation as a player before, myself, and a number of times as a coach as well, you know what can be going through the players' minds during that time, and you want to make sure you ease their minds and understand it's still going to be about executing. It's still going to be about your effort out there. And, I thought our guys were able to kind of regroup during that timeout and come back out with the right mindset."

On what was working defensively, holding TCU to 34% field goal percentage in the first half:

"We just really concentrate on how we needed to defend. You know, every team comes out with a game plan, and our game plan was to make sure we understood who their personnel was and try to defend them accordingly. And I thought we did a good job of that in the first half."

On how to tell his team they still have a long way to go:

"Absolutely. We're a long way from over. We have five more league games to go, and every place we're going to play and every team that'll come here will be very, very good, and they'll be playing with a desperation as well. So, we have to understand that, and we have to look at that as a challenge for us as well. And so our guys are, you know, they should enjoy this tonight, and they should enjoy this, but come tomorrow morning, they should wake up and they should — it should be a reset and let's start preparing for our next opponent."

On his update on guard Riley Kugel's injury at the end of the game:

"I'm not sure know quite what happened. I'm sure he's probably getting treatment right now. He's probably with our trainer. So I'll find out after I leave here, kind of what his status is and exactly what happened."

On his message to the team as they fight for postseason positioning:

"Well, what we want to do is we want to continue to take it one game at a time. You know, I won't look past our next opponent, and I don't want my players looking past our next opponent. Just that's all that we can control. It's our preparation for what we're going to play next and then we move forward from there. And hopefully we'll take the lessons tonight. Like I said last game, we got to take the lessons that we'll learn, try to apply them going forward, try to make the improvements necessary as we play our next opponent. So whether we play well or play poorly, there are going to be lessons to be learned that we have to gather the information, teach, and then go in the game, and hopefully we're making improvements in those areas."

On guard Carmelo Pacheco's status:

"Well, definitely, Carmelo's has been terrific for us this season. and definitely missed him as well. Right now he's still day-to-day. So we'll see where he is as his week continues, but [he's a] great young man, and I'm sure when he's ready, he'll be able to come back and continue to help contribute into our program."

On if the UCF Knights got back to playing UCF basketball:

"I did. You know, I talked about us connecting and playing selfless. The ball was moving, guys off each other. Like I said, they had energy, and it found the right people, and that's what you want to see happen. I thought defensively, we were locked in for the majority of the game. So that's [what] UCF basketball is, defend at a high level, being focused on what you have to do defensively and offensively playing for each other. If you do those two things right there, I would call that UCF basketball."

On his thoughts about TCU coach Jamie Dixion:

"One, I mean, you guys already know this, he can flat-out coach. You saw him at Pitt, you see him here. You know how long he's been in our game. That's not easy in this profession, as we all know. So it speaks to who he is as a coach and as a person. And then, of course, you look at his teams, the way they play, you know, pretty much you can close your eyes, they're going to be gritty, they're going to be tough, they're going to be well coached, they're going to execute. I mean, that's where he's been. Every place he's been has been that way. And so, I have a lot of respect for him. And of course, we're the same age basically. So, with your peers like that and guys that have you come up during the same time, there's going to be a fondness there because there's relationships that go way, way back. So, I always follow them and root for his teams and his program."

On how to keep the team locked in during the two-game road trip:

"Well, the one thing we need to do is we need to make sure we spend some quality time together on the road. You know, I think it's very important because at least when you're on the road, there's not as many distractions from that standpoint. It's just us wherever we are. So, it gives us a time to kind of spend some time together, continue to get to know each other. I mean, as much as we're talking about this team, this team's been together what, eight months? It isn't like you keep these guys for four years anymore. So the time that we're there we'll spend more time together which I think helps us you know on the court because you building relationships, you start to gain more trust in each other and what you do and I think that time's invaluable even during this time of the year just being together in those situations and whether it's telling stories or laughing you know with each other or or game prep. I think it's important for us to spend that quality time with each other."

On if there was anything he saw that he was unhappy with:

"Our standards are very high for what we do. So, I definitely see areas that we have to improve in that we're going to continue to talk about — tomorrow when we, well, not tomorrow because we're off tomorrow — the following day when we get together we'll discuss some things that we got to improve. But I'm going to take a look at the film and break it down before I make those comments cause I want to see exactly, making sure what I saw was correct. Because you can start seeing stuff off the cuff in the game and you getting to watching, and 'He really did do that well. He was actually in the right place, and that possession, it was better than I thought it was.' So, we'll take a look and before I start to figure out exactly how I want to approach it."