A 14-point lead evaporated as UCF faltered late. Coach Dawkins laments missed execution, pointing to West Virginia's clutch shooting and missed defensive focus.
Despite leading by 14 with about 13 minutes to play, UCF fell 74-67 against West Virginia Saturday evening.
The Knights led by just one at the halftime break, but jumped out to a double-digit lead thanks to scoring flurries from senior guard Riley Kugel and fifth-year point guard Themus Fulks. Fulks had a great second-half, scoring 19 after a scoreless first period.
However, West Virginia's guard tandem of senior point guard Honor Huff and senior guard Jasper Floyd also got it going, nailing big-time threes down the stretch to close out the game.
Here's what UCF head coach Johnny Dawkins had to say about his team's late collapse.
"We didn't execute, you know, coming down the stretch. We give them a lot of credit. That's how they won a lot of their basketball games. We knew that coming in that we had to stay focused and we didn't sustain it. We didn't sustain it, you know, in the second half the way we needed to," Dawkins said. "And now they just keep playing and they keep playing and they make some plays. You know, Huff, he can get going at any moment. He got going late. I think he had seven with nine points maybe with seven minutes to go. Finished with 21. But that's what he does and so we were aware of that. We just need to be locked in on the game plan. Understand that you have to play for a full 40. You can't have any letups on either side of the basketball."
Huff was held in check for most of the game, but got free for a dagger step-back 3-pointer late in the game. Huff is currently top-five in the nation in 3-pointer made. He really began to get going after seeing free-throws go through in the second half.
Huff was fouled on multiple 3-point attempts, allowing him to get comfortable at the charity stripe, where he converted all eight of his free-throw attempts.
"Well, I'd say we fouled jump shooters twice. One was a four-point play. Another was three free throws. And Huff's not going to miss any of those shots," Dawkins said.
UCF still has some work to do to secure a return to March Madness for the first time in seven years. The Knights will look to end this three-game spell at home Tuesday night against the TCU Horned Frogs. Tipoff is at 7:00 p.m.