UCF put their potent offense on full display, defeating FAU 100-94 on Tuesday night to improve to 3-0.

The Knights were powered by a high-scoring trio: Keyshawn Hall, who notched a season-high 26 points, Darius Johnson with 21 points, and Jordan Ivy-Curry contributing 22.

Opening statement:

"Well, I thought it was just a really good basketball game. I thought both teams came ready to compete, as they should. I thought FAU got off to a great start."

"I think John (Jakus) does a great job with his team. He's built a great group. They play very unselfish basketball. And they made a lot of connecting plays against us. And so first for us, looking at what we did, I thought I was really proud of our guys, because when they got a double-digit lead, it could have gotten even bigger. I thought we had some guys really step up in the first half and give us a huge lift.

"I thought Jordan Ivy-Curry, especially in the first half, really helped stabilize us. And I thought off the bench, I thought JJ (Taylor) came in and gave us some real meaningful minutes in the first half to also help get us back in rhythm as well. So I'm really happy those guys were able to step up in the first half."

Coach, talking about that critical stretch, late in the second half, five or six-minute mark, you guys only had a three-point lead. Then Darius Johnson, he had the 8-0 run. There was a steal in there. There was an assist. So he made a lot of plays for you to start to pull away. How big was that moment?

"It was huge for us. He had a senior moment. You know, it's great to have a senior point guard, guys who understand what you want, guys who've been in those moments before. So he's comfortable. He made the plays that were in front of him. He made timely plays coming down the stretch for us. And like I say, he's a good free throw shooter, so you really can't foul him either.

"So I thought he was really terrific. And, you know, like I said, it's great having a senior point guard, a senior leader. And he exhibited that today."

Coach, you guys scored 100 points tonight, three players over 20 points. You mentioned before, like, they were getting good shots. They just weren't falling. Was this one of those where they were falling?

"Exactly. I thought we, you know, we got those shots that we were talking about, but they were knocking them down. And I think they're capable of having nights like this.

"I see them in practice, so, you know, I have a different perspective. And I know they're capable. And tonight, I think doing it in an actual game will help them understand that it's possible to do it on game night as well. So a lot of guys stepped up and made those plays for us.

Coach, Keyshawn (Hall), Jordan (Ivy-Curry), and Darius (Johnson) combined for 69 points tonight. What has their consistent presence meant for this team early, especially with the injuries to Jaylin Sellers and Mikey Williams?

"Well, it really helps us because it gives us guys that have all been in those moments before. You know, all three of those guys have a great deal of experience. You know, Jordan's a junior. Keyshawn's a junior. DJ's a senior. But all three of those guys, you know, are capable of doing what they did tonight. And it's really good to see them all doing on the same night. That just makes us, you know, even more difficult to defend."

Coach, kind of another slow start to start the game tonight and then another slow start coming out of the half. What do you want to see change regarding that?

"We've got to get better coming up, starting games and coming out of half. We've got to get better. We're working on that. You know, believe me, we're working on it daily, you know, and things that we can do to try to help these guys understand how we need to start.

"But it's a process. These guys are still learning to play with each other. You're three games into the season. You know, I expect some of that, you know, where, you know, how are we starting? What are we running? What are we doing defensively? You know, we're working on all of that and looking at it all to see if we can find a way to kind of make it a better start for us."

Coach, Keyshawn mentioned that they were going to be in for some exercise and practice after giving up 94 points tonight. When you look at this high-octane FAU offense, what can this team learn from that as they move on and eventually have to face Big 12 offenses?

"Well, they're very difficult to guard. You know, the wonderful thing for us in three games, I think we've played three different systems. So, these players on my team have to learn to play against three different systems already. That's how it's going to be as we move through the season and, of course, in conference play.

"Everyone's not going to play the same style. And so, you have to be able to make the adjustments. And I thought our guys in all three games were able to make the adjustment. They found a way to still win the game, and that's the most important thing.

"So, tonight, you know, playing against that type of offensive system, we're going to learn so much watching film, what we can do, what we can tweak to be better, and we should continue to improve as we go forward."

The FAU coach talked a little bit about how he appreciated the fact that you guys agreed to play them because it's difficult getting these kind of games. What is the reason why you wanted to play FAU?

"John does a great job with his group. As I said earlier, I looked at the guys they were bringing in, and they brought in a lot of talented players... You know us, we're going to play everybody. Every team we play is always going to be competitive. That's what we want to play. So, our players can develop a certain habit that they have to have to be successful when it comes to conference play.

"They played great, but we expected them to. Now, our players didn't walk in that game blindfolded. They knew that they were going to come in, and they were going to be very competitive, and they were going to be tough, and we wanted to play a good game to win."

Benny Williams had an excellent game, 17 points, seven boards. I think you guys were plus-20 when he was in the game. He had that mid-range shot that was falling. He made his free throws. Just how big were Benny's contributions tonight?

"He was terrific. I'm just happy because I like to see young men, especially when they work as hard as he worked, have the success, because it just shows that the hard work pays off. And so, it reinforces habits we're trying to teach. He worked so hard this summer, this fall, and so now he's in these moments. I'm happy for him because I know what he put in, the sacrifices, commitment he's made to improve, and it shows on the floor.

"And so, now he can still build off of that. Now, he's, once you've done that, that formula becomes, I know how hard I got to work to get better. You'll continue that formula and continue to improve."

Coach, you touched on the 94 points. That's kind of not your style, but did you learn that you can play a different, a faster-paced game, a higher-scoring game, and still win, or does that need to be clamped down a little bit?

"Well, we need to clamp down on that. 94 points is a lot of points in a regulation game. Now, I don't mind scoring as many points. I just don't want to give up that many. So, you know, the areas we have to improve in, but as you just mentioned, I don't know, in years past, we've been capable of winning a game like that, where we had to just outscore a team. But we're able to because we have some guys that are capable of putting the ball in the basket a little bit more.

"And so, we're able to win a game like that. And some nights, let's be quite frank, you're going to have to be able to just outscore someone, because sometimes guys, like tonight, and it felt like they almost made everything. So, if you don't, you know, make shots, then you're just going to continue to fall further and further behind.

"Our guys really did a good job offensively of executing our game plan, and we need to continue to shore up our defense."

Coach, you've seen some 100-plus-point games in your time here at UCF, but this one was in regulation, which I have to imagine has been a while since you've seen something like that. What stood out to you about your offense tonight, as opposed to other offenses you've had over your time here at UCF?

"Well, this is my first time here scoring over 100 points or 100 points in regulation. So, you know, what it says is that we have some guys that are capable of putting the ball in the hole. I think they showed that they're willing to share the basketball. We had 19 assists in doing so.

"And so, as long as they continue to share the basketball, play unselfish, the ball has energy, and find the right guy. You know, we're confident that whoever that right guy is at the time can make the shot. And that's what we want to have, a team where, no matter where we move the ball, we feel good about the guy with it and his ability to make a shot. And I think we saw that tonight."

46% tonight from beyond the arc. Would you guys say that you're breaking out of a shooting slump after the struggles in the first two games from the three-point line?

"Yeah, I don't think we shot as well as we're capable of. I don't know if I would say it was a slump for us in, you know, game three. But I was confident that we could get better shooting the basketball, and it was kind of good to see us do that. The best thing about the first two games for us were that we didn't shoot well and we still were able to find a way to win.

"I think our guys learned a big lesson because they know they can score. Our guys know they can score. But now we have to understand some nights the ball's just not going to go in for you.

"So is that your excuse to lose a game? Or can you still find a way and dig deep enough to still find a way to pull it out? And so I thought our first two games, we were able to do that, which should be a good teachable moment for us as we go forward."

Keyshawn (Hall) and Benny (Williams) talked about the struggles of the defense, but said you guys managed to get some kills. How do you take that into Tennessee Tech in the rest of the season?

"It's just about defense getting stops. (Kill is) terminology we use for just getting stops. And that's what the game boils down to. You have to stop the other opponent, more than they can stop you at the end of the day. And we were able to have a few more stops than they had tonight."

Moustapha Thiam, was this not the best matchup for him? I know he got into foul trouble too.

"Yeah, exactly. He was a freshman today. It's going to be beneficial for him. All these experiences that he's faced and he's never faced before. He's 17 years old. He's figuring it out. And I'm just happy that we were able to be successful. It's going to be a great, again, teachable moment for him. There's going to be so much good film that we can show him in situations offensively, defensively, that he's going to grow from. He needs these type of experiences as we move forward so he can continue to improve."

Coach, Keyshawn Hall said to pray for the team regarding the practice this week after allowing those 94 points. What do you think the practice is going to look like?

"Well, it'll be intense. That's for sure. There'll be some intense practices, but they should want them to be intense because it's about our standard. The score never matters to me. It's our standards. It's how we play. That's all that, whether we win or lose, we win by 20 and if we don't play the right way, of course, not to our standards, I'm not going to be happy, but we could lose by 15 and we played the right way to everything we could, I'm okay with that.

"It's all about our standards. So tonight, I'm looking at this game and I give FAU a lot of credit, nothing disparaging. I mean, the coach does a great job. I think the team's going to have a terrific season.

"You know, there are things that we have to do. I'm only thinking about us. There are things that we have to do to be better. And so, of course, I'm disappointed in that and we have to start working on that."

Coach, you had four guards with 15 or more points tonight and this is without Mikey Williams or Jaylin Sellers on the floor. What can you update us about those two's status and then how does their introduction kind of factor into the guard lineup which is already scoring at a high level?

"Well, those guys are still day-to-day. And so we're still waiting to see, you know, their status as far as when, you know, they could possibly be available. And so we're very, like I said, I'm just still optimistic, you know, with regards to those guys. Right now what happens is you need other guys to step up in those opportunities.

"This is basketball. So when a man goes down, you know, someone has an opportunity to step up and show that they can really help contribute to what we're doing. And so that's what we're having right now. We're in a position where guys are having to step up and make plays.

"Like tonight, like if Benny comes in and makes a play. Nils (Machowski), you know, his opportunity. You know, Deebo (Coleman) is out there playing. So we have guys that have some experience that have had some success that are in those roles."

"And this is their opportunity, you know, to help our team and to give us as a coaching staff more options and more things to consider, you know, when guys do return."

Coach, whether the team is shooting well or not, one of the main consistent factors has been getting to the free throw line and converting them. You guys went 23 for 25 tonight. Something that was an inconsistent thing last season. What is the difference that you see at the free throw line?

"These guys have really worked hard on them this summer and this fall. These guys, a number of them, if you look at their percentages when they were at different colleges, they've shot the ball fairly well from the free throw line.

"So we've brought some guys in that have been consistent free throw shooters, along with our guys continuing to work to improve on their free throws. We made an emphasis of that as, you know, in drills, in the practice, in the middle of practice, different times to work on just, you know, focusing and concentrating on knocking them down."

How much of a factor is that for you, like you mentioned before, when the team isn't shooting well, that these guys are getting to the line and making sure they're getting points one way or another?

"Absolutely, that's big. I mean, you know, we want to play a game where we balance our offense out. We don't want to be an all three-point shooting team. We know we're not going to be an all-at-the-basket team in the paint. We have to have the ability to knock down free throws and or get fouled. You know, putting fouls on the other team is always a good thing. You know, I think that helped us with Baba Miller, getting him in foul trouble.

"So those things help us. And so we have to understand the value of balancing our offense out and that being one-dimensional and getting to the line is a big part of that."

You guys were able to withstand that 13-2 run to open the second half. How does that speak to the resiliency of this team and the continuity you're trying to build?

"Well, I think they have a lot of confidence in themselves and their ability to come back. You know, the one thing about them is they keep competing. They've shown a poise, you know, calmness in those situations. And I think that starts with your leadership at the point guard spot. I think DJ sets a tone. He's calm. He's intense in what he's saying, but he's calm, you know, in those situations. I think Keyshawn (Hall) and Jordan (Ivy-Curry) have been in those situations before as well.

"And so the guys who haven't, don't have that experience, they've done a good job of kind of feeding and following those guys' leadership, feeding off of those guys and following their leadership. I think that's why we've been able to, in those moments, just kind of settle down and start building from that position."