Dior Johnson Leads UCF to 80-74 Exhibition Victory Over Rollins

With the regular season just seven days away, UCF picked up an exhibition victory over the cross-town Rollins Tars, sneaking out of Addition Financial Arena with an 80-74 win.

The final score may have been a bit too close for comfort, but head coach Johnny Dawkins' group showed great poise down the stretch, closing out the victory.

Senior shooting guard Dior Johnson was the Knights' top scorer, pouring in a game-high 19 points.

Johnson also did a great job of crashing the boards, leading UCF in rebounds with seven.

Through the opening two exhibition bouts for UCF, Johnson has been by far the team's top scorer.

The former blue-chip high school recruit scored 18 points against LSU in UCF's first preseason bout, getting to the rim with ease and making jump shots from all over the court.

As the season approaches, it will be interesting to see how Dawkins utilizes Johnson's dynamic scoring abilities.

Prior to his breakout year with Tarleton State last season, Johnson played a limited role on UCF's 2024-2025 squad, averaging just 8.5 minutes per game in 35 appearances.

During the regular season, Johnson scored double-digits just once, dropping 11 points against Wisconsin in the Greenbrier Tip-Off.

However, in the College Basketball Crown Semifinals, Johnson was a key part of the Knights' 104-98 overtime victory over Villanova, scoring a season-high 13 points and knocking down three 3-pointers.

Despite having interest from various Power 4 programs, Johnson. bet on himself, transferring to a school like Tarleton State where he could have an instant impact.

Safe to say his decision paid off, as Johnson averaged 24.0 points per game while shooting on stellar 50/47/85 splits.

More impressively, Johnson did so despite coming off the bench, serving as one of the best collegiate bench scorers in recent memory.

As he returns to UCF with more pelts on the wall, Johnson is focused on carrying over his success to winning.

"I just want to be a winner," Johnson said in late-July. "I know everybody is high on my offense, wondering how its going to translate or what I'm going to do this year, but my play will speak for itself."

While it is only the preseason, Johnson's play against Rollins and LSU is very promising and shows that he is expanding his skillset outside of scoring the ball.

With Riley Kugel's recent return and the veteran presences like Arturo Dean and Cayden Vasko in the backcourt, expect Johnson to likely play a similar spark-plug bench role for Dawkins to start the year.