Dawkins emphasizes team bonds and minimizing distractions as UCF faces tough road games. Their postseason hopes hinge on strong away performances.
The Knights (18-7, 7-6 Big 12) ended a three-game skid Tuesday evening, defeating TCU (16-10, 6-7 Big 12) in a win that could define UCF's postseason chances. Prior to the game, UCF was projected as a nine or ten seed on most metrics, while TCU was named one of the final four teams in, according to Joe Lunardi's Bracketology.
Now, the Knights hit the road for Utah, for a two-game trip against the Utes and No. 23 Brigham Young University (BYU). UCF has struggled on the road in conference play, accumulating a 2-4 record to this point.
Head coach Johnny Dawkins spoke on what his team needs to do away from home to find success and the importance of building relationships within his team.
"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," Dawkins said. "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."
For a totally revamped UCF squad, this team's chemistry has continued to grow. The Knights have done a great job of sharing the wealth on offense and playing without egos, ranking top 90 in the country in assists per game while sitting among the top-half of the Big 12.
Dawkins told reporters following the TCU victory that he was happy with the connectivity his team played with.
"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," Dawkins said. "If you do those two things right there, I would call that UCF basketball."