Knights seize road victory with sizzling offense. Dawkins praises Kugel and Fulks for leading the charge in a crucial Big 12 win.
The UCF Knights' (14-2, 3-1 Big 12) offense overwhelmed the Kansas State Wildcats in their 82-73 victory at the Bramlage Coliseum on Wednesday night.
UCF shot 52% from the field and 47% from three, which is above its normal averages for the season. The team's offense fueled a double-digit lead heading into halftime, up 42-28.
Coach Johnny Dawkins spoke about his squad's hot start and what helped them accomplish an excellent first half.
"Well, I do think we got off to a good start," Dawkins said. "That's something we had been talking about, and I was glad to see our guys kind of get some carryover with regards to that. But I thought especially early on, Riley Kugel really set a tone offensively. He got going early, and I think we kind of just fed off of that as the half was going through. As we were going through the half, we just fed off the fact [that] I thought he got off to a good start and we got out in transition. I thought our defense was good. Our defense, I think, turned in some good offense for us in transition as well. And those are things I thought in the first half that really helped us."
Kugel had 19 points on 6-11 shooting. He was crucial to the Knights' early 14-2 run from the 16:31 mark to the 10:42 mark.
The 6-foot-5 guard used his defender's momentum multiple times to pull back his dribble and create separation to nail his jump shots.
Dawkins went more in-depth, praising Kugel's play and also complimenting Themus Fulks, who had 13 points and 12 assists.
"I thought he did a great job for us," Dawkins said. "He played like a senior. You want to see your seniors kind of step up in those moments. I thought he did that. I thought Themus Fulks did that as well. I thought they really did a good job of picking their spots and stepping up when we need them the most, coming down the stretches of the game because [it was] almost a one-possession, two-possession game coming down the stretch, and those guys just made play after play to really help us maintain our lead."
The senior duo helped UCF earn its first conference road victory of the season, and the team has returned to its early-season form after a loss to Oklahoma State earlier in the month.
UCF hosts No. 1 Arizona Saturday at the Addition Financial Arena at 4 p.m. on ESPN, aiming to record its second upset of the season.