Knights battle back from deficits, showcasing grit and a winning will. Their hard-nosed defense and resiliency pave their path to tournament contention.
Forward Jamichael Stillwell high-fived the fans and celebrated with them after the UCF Knights (16-4, 5-3 Big 12) rallied back from an 11-point deficit in the final 5:27 to defeat the Arizona State Sun Devils (11-10, 2-6 Big 12) 79-76 at the Addition Financial Arena Tuesday night.
The Knights' victory starts a two-game winning streak after losing back-to-back games to No. 1 Arizona and No. 9 Iowa State. Their 16th win across 20 games has set them on pace to earn a bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Barstool UCF (@UCFStool) posted a "Road To The Tournament" graphic on X, dividing UCF's final 22 games into these categories: free win, should win, can win and upset.
The Knights have completed the "free win," "should win" and "upset" categories in the graphic. What has kept the team successful throughout the season is having an identity, something that establishes what they pride themselves on doing in every game.
UCF's identity is characterized by playing hard-nosed defense and demonstrating resiliency in the face of numerous challenges.
"I think identity does help us," coach Johnny Dawkins said. "The fact that they're gutsy. You know, they'll keep on competing. Until the last second ticks off, as I mentioned before, they're going to keep fighting. And you have to have that in this league because there's so many good teams, and the way they play — if you don't — you know, you can find yourself getting knocked back every night, and so the ability to fight is a very important ability to have and our guys keep fighting and uh they give us a chance because of that."
The wins against then-No. 17 Kansas, Cincinnati (at home), Arizona State and the loss against Arizona in conference play show the Knights' commitment to playing hard until the final buzzer sounds.
Each of those games was hard-fought, and the team thrives in close, high-leverage moments because their intensity increases.
"I don't think our style really changes," Dawkins said. "I think maybe our intensity goes up. Intensity kind of gets raised, and I think their overall desire, you know, when they're realizing that the clock is ticking and it's running out. We're not in the position that we want to be in. I think that desire, like I said, the intensity those things, but like I said, they love to compete, and they have a will to win. Like I said, when you have those things, you can build off of that, you can know things we got to improve on absolutely, but that's something that you can't really coach, I mean, guys either have that in them or they don't. And these guys do have a will to win, and I'm glad they're very, very competitive young men.
UCF's resilience in the Big 12 has put them on track to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2019. However, the team faces another tough stretch against ranked opponents in No. 11 Texas Tech and No. 10 Houston.
Coach Dawkins and his squad will host Texas Tech this Saturday at the Addition Financial Arena on ESPN2 at 12 p.m.