The UCF Knights are moving closer to securing a berth in the NCAA Tournament. 

To stay in the hunt, they have to build off the recent close victory against the Utah Utes. It moved the Knights to 19-6 overall and 8-6 in the Big 12 conference. Next up is a tough matchup against the BYU Cougars. 

"Well, I want our guys to enjoy this game," UCF coach Johnny Dawkins said. "Because winning against the league is hard and so I want them to enjoy it for this evening, and then we have to move on and we have to start preparing for BYU, another really talented team playing well. So, we need to make sure that we start giving all of our attention to them. But, as we know, every single game is going to be very tough and challenging."

The Cougars are coming off a huge win against the Iowa State Cyclones. BYU is led by super freshman AJ Dybantsa, who is projected to go high as No. 2 in the June NBA draft. 

The game is just another strong test the Knights have faced this season. With teams such as the Cyclones, Cougars, Kansas Jayhawks, Houston Cougars and Arizona Wildcats on the slate, Dawkins has continued to praise the strength of the conference this season. Many have said it is the best league in college basketball. 

"Just how good this league is, and it is a gauntlet - every single night, every opponent. I mean, everybody's just, you know, one basket away, two baskets away from records being a lot different. And it's just a function of how I thought our guys did a great job just finding a way at the end to make plays and win the game."

INJURY UPDATES 

Dawkins also gave injury updates in Riley Kugel and Carmelo Pacheco.

"Well, Riley's still day-to-day," Dawkins said. "You saw the injury he sustained last game we played. And then with Pacheco I thought he did a terrific job. He just came back off his injury and I thought he came in and he gave us a lift in both halves."

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Shandel Richardson is the publisher of UCFRoundtable. He can be reached at shandelrich@gmail.com