MENS BASKETBALL

Central Florida 65, Kansas 60

BY PHILIP ROSSMAN-REICH
ASSOCIATED PRESS

ORLANDO, FL - Jaylin Seller scored 18 points, Darius Johnson added 17 and UCF erased a 16-point deficit to beat No. 3 Kansas 65-60.

UCF’s victory came one night after No. 1 Purdue and second-ranked Houston lost.

Ibrahima Diallo broke a 57-57 tie with less than three minutes left with a hook shot over Jayhawks (13-2, 1-1 Big 12) star Hunter Dickinson. He then blocked a KJ Adams Jr. shot with 50 seconds left to help the Knights (10-4, 1-1) preserve the lead and score the program’s first Big 12 conference win.

Diallo had 13 points, five rebounds and a block to help anchor a UCF defense that forced eight turnovers and blocked four shots in the second half alone

Kansas had 18 turnovers. The UCF center triad of Ibrahima Diallo, C.J. Walker and Omar Payne recorded five of the team’s seven blocks in the game.

Kevin McCullar Jr. scored 16 points to lead Kansas. Dickinson had only 12 points and played 28 minutes because of foul trouble.

UCF used a 9-0 run in the second half during that time to take the lead for the first time since it was 7-5 early in the game thanks to a series of shots from Johnson and Sellers.

That duo combined to make 7 of 13 3-pointers for the game and three of four in the second half.

The Jayhawks got the Knights down by double-digits in the first half but could not figure out UCF’s length in the second half, scoring only 23 points and shooting 7-for-22 shooting in the second half.

BIG PICTURE

Kansas was in a position to claim the top spot in next week’s poll after the losses by the top two teams. But the Jayhawks have not looked dominant in conference play, winning their first Big 12 game at home against TCU by just two points before falling to UCF.

UCF picked up its first Big 12 win in its inaugural season in the conference, leading to fans storming the court in celebration after the victory.

Central Florida athletics press release

January 10, 2024