B.J. Taylor departs game in season-opening win against Mercer
UCF got the 88-79 season-opening win against Mercer, but the immediate concern afterward centered around the status of star point guard B.J. Taylor, who departed the game early in the second half with a foot injury.
Fouled on a successful drive to the basket, Taylor was in visible pain after an awkward landing. He shot the free throw and then immediately headed back to the locker room. He never returned to the bench.
"The only thing I know is he hurt his foot," head coach Johnny Dawkins said. "Nothing will be confirmed until tomorrow after the doctors see him and give us their impressions on what happened. Hopefully he'll be okay, but we'll have to wait and see."
In Taylor's absence, Terrell Allen, a Drexel transfer playing his first game in a UCF uniform, fulfilled the primary point guard duties.
"Guys like Terrell have to step up," Dawkins said. "We brought him here for this type of role. He's a pure point guard. He came here to spend time behind B.J., but you never know how it goes. If his role has to change some, I think he's the type of player that will be prepared for that. He had a good summer. He's worked hard this fall. Hopefully everything goes well for B.J., but for Terrell, we trust him and his ability to help us going forward."
In 21 minutes of play, Allen didn't attempt a field goal but did connect on all six free throws.
"That's what he does, he makes others better," Dawkins said. "He's a pure point guard. I love both. I thought we had a great combination. One's a scoring point which I love and one is a pure point which I love. Terrell is a throwback. He's trying to find guys. Trying to make guys better. He's more of a servant. He's serving everybody, which is a good thing. The guys know he's going to deliver it to them. B.J. is going to make those plays too because he's a heck of a guard, one of the best in the country, but he's going to score a lot of points for you too. I think that's a good combination because you can play both of them together or play them individually. That gives you a lot of versatility."
UCF played the game without center Tacko Fall, who is nursing a minor hip injury. Dawkins didn't give a timetable for a return, but said his absence wouldn't be extended.
"He should be fine," Dawkins said. "It's just a process for him. I can't say when he's going to play again, but it's not anything that should hold him out for much longer."
Last week, UCF announced Aubrey Dawkins would miss the season after suffering a shoulder injury in practice. A transfer from Michigan, Johnny Dawkins' son was expected to play a primary role with many of his teammates predicting he was a superstar in the making.
UCF also dealt with injuries last season, but if there's good news they do have significantly more depth this year.
"We've been in this predicament before when guys have gotten injured in the early season and we've had to make some adjustments," Dawkins said. "We've had to go on the fly and figure some things out. We could have to do it again. We had to do it with Aubrey last week. Out of the blue, he's gone for the year. When you spend the fall and summer with an idea of what you can do and now a piece is removed, you have to start figuring things out.
"Now with B.J., we have to see where he is, but depending on where he is, we have to do the same thing again. That's part of the game, unfortunately. Hopefully this (injury) bug will go away from us. It's been tough. We're a no-excuse program. Our job is to find a way as coaches and players. That's what we plan to do."
As for the game, UCF's commitment to defense helped them to pull away after trailing Mercer 47-46 at halftime. The Bears' first-half offense was fueled by hot-shooting guard Ria'n Holland, who scored 21 points before the break. He ended up with 31, but only made one field goal in the second half. UCF limited Mercer to just 29.2 percent shooting from the floor in the second half.
Ceasar DeJesus and Dayon Griffin each scored 16 points, Chance McSpadden came off the bench to contribute 13 points while B.J. Taylor scored 12 before the injury.
A.J. Davis was a monster in the paint, pulling down 15 rebounds.
"I saw them play with a lot of poise," Dawkins said. "We started really understanding how we had to build the lead and that was getting stops. I thought we really got dialed in defensively, that led us to our fast break getting out in the open court. We have guys that you see that can make plays when they get out and get that space so it was really kind of fun to see us kind of how we did it."
UCF returns to action next Wednesday, welcoming Gardner-Webb to CFE Arena for a 7 p.m. tip.
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