ORLANDO (UCFKnights.com) – The UCF men’s basketball team put forth a completely dominating performance over visiting SMU Sunday afternoon, winning 95-48, behind a 23-point, 20-rebound performance from Tacko Fall.
The Knights (20-6, 10-4) earned their largest margin of victory of the season. The 47-point win, in fact, was the largest for UCF since defeating West Florida 115-61 on Nov. 12, 2010. The victory also gave UCF 20 wins for the second time in the last three seasons.
Hanging their hat on defense since Johnny Dawkins’ arrival in Orlando, Sunday’s effort was one of the program’s best, holding the Mustangs (13-13, 5-9) to just 48 points and just 24.6 percent from the floor. That mark was a season-best for the Knights and the lowest opponent field goal percentage since allowing just 22.1 percent to Stetson on Nov. 30, 2016.
“We came out with a defensive mindset that really set a tone in this game,” Dawkins said. “Our guys came out right from the tip, they followed the game plan, they were locked in defensively, and that first four minutes was amazing. I don’t think we’ve played better in a four-minute span.”
