The Legacy of Coach Nolan (ch2k8)

[nolan887]

Re: The Legacy of Coach Nolan (ch2k8)

KNIGHTS RALLY, DOUSE FLAMES

University of Central Florida (4-1) vs. University of Illinois at Chicago (1-1)
UIC Pavilion
Chicago, IL
November 29, 2013

Chicago, IL - Coach Nolan must be doing something right in Orlando. In his latest win, he rallied his team from ten down at halftime to win by two in the final seconds of the game. The UIC Flames came out on fire while the Knights looked like they were sleepwalking through the first half. UCF rallied in the last minutes before halftime to cut the Flames' lead to 10. At halftime, Coach Nolan was furious and preached to his players of intensity and unity. His halftime talk fired up the Knights who came out and immediately cut the lead to just 5 points. For the rest of the game, it was essentially bucket for bucket on both ends. With 2:36 left and down 3 points, Nolan called a time out and put his starters back in. J.J. Bone dumped the inbound to Pearson Shannon who threw it down with authority, fighting through a foul. Shannon then hit his free throw throw to tie the game. Bone then stole the inbound pass and ally-ooped it to Kody Kleinzweig for their first lead since the opening minutes of the game. UIC and UCF both clamped down on defense and extended their offense well into the shot clock. UIC, down just 2 points, held the ball for the last shot of the game. Keith Montgomery, who was on fire from down town, got off a contested three at the buzzer and Coach Nolan and his Knights all exhaled as it rattled out of the bucket.

"Some people say 'I'd rather be lucky than good,' but I disagree," Nolan said after the game. "We were two evenly matched teams, but we did not play to our potential. We came out of there with a win, but I think a loss would have brought us back down to earth and helped our players focus on fundamentals. I told them at halftime that just because we were coming off a blowout win did not mean that everybody was going to roll over for us the rest of the season. It was good to see Pearson and Kody both step it up again today in the second half, but we need to start playing better defense. Both of their starting guards [Montgomery and Galos] shot double figures and were hitting threes because of our poor defense. Offense puts fans in the seats, defense wins championships, I am looking forward to the challenge of doing both."

With fan attendance in Orlando still at a pathetic 30%, Coach Nolan will need to continue his success to help the university and potentially extend his one year contract. If Pearson Shannon continues playing like he did today, with another 24 points, 6 rebounds, 4 steals, and 2 blocks, Nolan will likely have a much easier time in all his endeavors. The Knights will likely focus on better ball control to cut down on turnovers along with stepping it up on the defensive end of the floor in their upcoming game against Moorehead State.

University of Central Florida (4-1) at University of Illinois - Chicago (1-1)
November 29, 2013 1 2 F University of Central Florida 31 47 78 University of Illinois - Chicago 41 35 76 Top Performers University of Central Florida - Stats Pearson Shannon - 24 Pts, 6 Reb, 4 Stl, 2 Blk Kody Kleinzweig - 19 Pts, 7 Reb, 2 Blk University of Illinois - Chicago - Stats Keith Montgomery - 18 Pts (4-6 3pt), 1 Reb, 4 Ast, 6 Stl Denis Galos - 12 Pts (2-7 3pt), 3 Reb, 3 Ast	Team Stat Comparison UCF UIC FG Made-Attempted 32-55 31-76 3P Made-Attempted 0-4 9-31 FT Made-Attempted 14-29 5-5 Rebounds 31 34 Assists 26 22 Steals 10 14 Blocks 5 3 Turnovers 16 15

[nolan887]

Re: The Legacy of Coach Nolan (ch2k8)

KNIGHTS MAKES SURE THE SCOREBOARD CAN GO TO TRIPLE DIGITS, BLOW OUT MOREHEAD STATE

University of Central Florida (5-1) vs. Morehead State University (1-4)
UCF Arena
Orlando, FL
November 30, 2013

Orlando, FL -The newest trick in Coach Nolan's bag of treats is showing the fans that the scoreboard can go to triple digits. The Knight's student section is sponsored by local resteraunt Baja Fresh, who provides two free tacos to any student who attends a UCF game in which the Knights score over 100 points. It was right after halftime when the students started chanting "We want tacos" to make sure Coach Nolan knew how to please them. The Knights came out on fire, scoring 53 points in the first half, and going into halftime with an eighteen point lead. The dominance of UCF's big men was shown again, sending four MSU players to the bench with two fouls each in the first twelve minutes of the game. The second half was more of the same; Morehead State could not hit their shots, and UCF made them pay.

An ecstatic Coach Nolan was interviewed after the big win. "We were able to correct all of our mistakes from our previous game against UIC and capitalize on almost every Eagles misstep. Our lead was pretty big, so I pulled Kody and Pearson, but Armando [Ross] and Eddie [Carlson] were playing out of their minds as well. When you have four big men all scoring over 15 points a piece, its not that hard a game to coach. When we can get their big men in foul trouble early, it really opens up the paint for everyone. Now all we need to do is start hitting some of the outside shots, and we will be a very hard team to beat."

Kody Kleinzweig and Pearson Shannon both had big nights, as per normal. The surprise of the game is that Armando Ross, Kleinzweig's replacement next year, came off the bench to score 20 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, and 3 steals. Alongside Ross was Eddie Carlson who contributed 19 points and 5 rebounds. With only three graduating seniors on the team this year and solid performances from his younger players, Nolan looks to be set for the next couple of seasons.

The Knights have looked very good thus far this season, but perhaps their competition has not been as stiff as it will be come conference play. With the in-season recruitment week coming up, Nolan and the Knights hope to land four star shooting guard Joey Black. Black says he is "100% interested" in attending UCF, but is also looking closely at Florida Atlantic University. The only other recruit that could potentially sign this week is three star shooting guard Greg Logie. The Knights will only be two starters to graduation after this season, so it would not be shocking to see Nolan save his scholarships and go after some younger players for recruitment next year. While in-season signing is going on, the Knights will visit Kennesaw State who seeks vengeance for the Knights 29 point victory just two weeks ago.

Moorehead State University (1-4) at University of Central Florida (5-1)
November 30, 2013 1 2 F Moorehead State University 35 32 67 University of Central Florida 53 48 101 Top Performers Moorehead State University - Stats Willis Curtis - 18 Pts, 3 Reb, 3 Ast, 1 Stl University of Central Florida - Stats Pearson Shannon - 23 Pts, 6 Reb, 2 Stl, 1 Blk Kody Kleinzweig - 16 Pts, 3 Reb	Team Stat Comparison UCF MSU FG Made-Attempted 36-73 27-81 3P Made-Attempted 0-4 2-25 FT Made-Attempted 29-40 11-21 Rebounds 53 44 Assists 25 17 Steals 11 10 Blocks 1 3 Turnovers 11 16

[nolan887]

UCF @ KSU

SAME TEAM, SAME RESULT - UCF WINS BIG AGAINST KENNESAW STATE

University of Central Florida (6-1) at Kennesaw State University (2-4)
KSU Convocation Center
Kennesaw, GA
December 3, 2013

Kennesaw, GA - The University of Central Florida Knights have pushed their winning streak up to five games under Coach Nolan. Going into Kenessaw, Nolan thought his players might be headed into a trap game seeing as how his Knights squad crushed the Fighting Owls by 29 points just two weeks before. Coach Nolan could not have been more wrong. After scoring 101 points in their last game, the Knights were still on fire. Dominik Hill, the senior shooting guard, heated up throughout the game contributing 23 points, and shooting 5 for 5 from three point land. Kody Kleinzweig also put up 21 points and 7 rebounds. Pearson Shannon had a decent game, but was on the bench for most of the game in foul trouble. On the other side, Randal Miles of KSU was seemingly the only Fighting Owls player to show up. Miles recorded a double-double with 24 points and 11 rebounds. This game was interesting in the fact that the two starting seniors were UCF's best producers.

"Dom[inik] got really hot today. We aren't much of an outside shooting team, but his contributions tonight were unbelievable," Coach Nolan commented. "Pearson has been an animal this season, but the Owls went right after him in the beginning of the game and forced him into foul trouble. One thing we are working on as a team is staying out of foul trouble, securing the ball, and rebounding better. Although we won the game, we had fifteen turnovers against Kennesaw's eleven. This has been an issue all season and once we start playing some better talented teams, we might be in some trouble if we don't fix it."

The Knights had twenty less shot attempts, but when you are making every shot, it doesn't really matter. UCF shot 56% from the floor and 71% from three point range. Turnovers are seemingly overlooked in these earlier games against weaker competition, but if nothing is done the Knights will be in some serious trouble come conference play.

University of Central Florida (6-1) at Kennesaw State University (2-4)
December 3, 2013 1 2 F University of Central Florida 51 40 91 Kennesaw State University 32 44 76 Top Performers University of Central Florida - Stats Dominik Hill - 23 Pts (5-5 3pt), 3 Reb, 4 Ast, 1 Stl Kody Kleinzweig - 21 Pts, 7 Reb, 3 Stl Kennesaw State University - Stats Randal Miles - 24 Pts, 11 Reb, 1 Stl, 1 Blk Happy Ramos - 18 Pts, 1 Reb, 2 Ast, 6 Stl	Team Stat Comparison UCF KSU FG Made-Attempted 29-52 31-72 3P Made-Attempted 5-7 4-22 FT Made-Attempted 28-42 10-20 Rebounds 42 34 Assists 21 16 Steals 6 13 Blocks 1 2 Turnovers 15 11

[Deuce2223]

Re: UCF @ KSU

Do you just use the computer generated schedule or do you make your own. I would love to see a tougher schedule with you playing South Florida, Miami, Florida, Florida State,maybe throw in a North Florida matchup to see what Cubsfan thinks.


Good luck turning the Knights into a CUSA powerhouse. I have never played in the conference in all my legacies but would like to someday. I have my sights on Houston or SMU.

[nolan887]

Re: UCF @ KSU

Do you just use the computer generated schedule or do you make your own. I would love to see a tougher schedule with you playing South Florida, Miami, Florida, Florida State,maybe throw in a North Florida matchup to see what Cubsfan thinks.

Since it's my first season, I just used the generated schedule. I do have a game against USF in the middle of my conference play. I'm also planning on adding teams to my schedule who other people's legacy I follow or follow mine play as. For example, I will schedule a game against Coach Frizzel's San Francisco Dons and your UC-Davis Aggies. I'm thinking about scheduling more games against more local teams to build up some good rivalries. Overall, I wanted to get a feel on my team this year, so I let the easy schedule slide. I think I am going to lose a bunch of conference games too, my overall is lower than all but 1 or 2 conference teams.

[nolan887]

Signing Week

SIGNING WEEK LEAVES NOLAN, KNIGHTS, DISSAPOINTED

Orlando, FL - With two seniors on the starting roster, Nolan has much faith that their roles will be filled with one of the plethora of bench players he has at his disposal next year. Dominik Hill, the Knights' only outside shooting threat, and Kody Kleinzweig, a key contributor to both offense and defense are both schedule to graduate after this season.

Coach Nolan announced pre-season that he was targeting a few guards to hopefully replace Dominik Hill, but winded up being very disappointed. Joey Black, a four star shooting guard from Popano Beach, Florida, seemed to be all but on the team, saying he was 100% interested in joining the Knights next season. Nolan was aware that Florida Atlantic was on Black's short list, but Black assured UCF that he was going to become a Knight next year. In the twenty fifth hour, Joey Black changed his mind and is not enrolled to attend FAU next season. Although this came as a shock and a dissapointment to the university, Nolan managed to rope Gilbert Logie. Logie is a 6'-5", 184 pound shooting guard out of Charleston, South Carolina. Rivals.com rated Logie as a 3 star recruit, the 117 overall shooting guard, and the 413 overall ranked player.

Coach Nolan was available for a quick phone interview to talk about recruiting. "We were shocked when Joey [Black] decided not go to FAU... really none of us saw that one coming. We did manage to sign Gilbert Logie, and we hope he can step up and become a key contributor on both offense and defense. As you can see by our box scores, shutting down opposition guard play has been something we have struggled with all season. We will probably keep J.J. Bone at point, move either Simmons or Logie to starting shooting guard, and we'll see if Armando Ross or Eddie Carlson comes in to replace Kleinzweig next season. Since our bench is so deep, we feel as a staff that we don't need a bunch of Freshman coming in next year, so we are going to focus on targeting some high school sophomores and juniors and hopefully be able to make a splash in the recruiting pool next season."

[nolan887]

Re: The Legacy of Coach Nolan (ch2k8)

KNIGHTS DON'T LOOK SO GOLDEN, DROP GAME TO PIRATES

University of Central Florida (6-2) at Seton Hall (7-2)
Prudential Center
Newark, NJ
December 17, 2013

Orlando, FL - For the second time this season, the University of Central Florida Knights have played a superior team and went to the locker room with the lead. Also, for the second time this season, the Knights have given up that lead and sputtered down the stretch. In the latest incident, Nolan's squad went into halftime with an eight point lead, and came out only to let the Seton Hall Pirates score 65 second half points. Turnovers still continue to be a big issue for this UCF team, as well as rebounding. With two big men in Kleinzweig and Shannon standing at 7'-0" and 6'-9" respectively, rebounding should not be an issue, but continues to be.

An irate Nolan tried to compose himself after the game to comment on the end of the Knights' five game winning streak. "We went out there in the first half and did everything we wanted to do," Nolan said. "We got an early lead, got their big men in some foul trouble, and Pearson and Kody were doing their thing in the paint. Then in the second half all of our problems came up to bite us in the ***. Its like whenever we have a halftime lead we come out flat, forget how to rebound, forget how to pass, forget how to play the game entirely. Dom going down didn't help us going down the stretch either. You have to credit the Pirates, when we started fouling to elongate that last minute, they hit every shot. It was a disappointing loss, but it hammers home what I've been saying all year. The turnovers and rebounds are killing us, and we are going nowhere fast if we cant change that."

The Knights were out-rebounded 40-29 and had 16 turnovers, 11 coming in the second half of the game. Shannon and Kleinzweig both had great offensive games, but again struggled to hit the boards. Shannon had 33 points and 5 rebounds and Kleinzweig had 28 points and 5 rebounds. When Seton Hall finally took the lead with four minutes left in the game, it did not help that Dominik Hill, who had 23 points and went 5 for 5 from downtown last game, left the game with a knee injury. The team doctors report he should be out for about a week and is listed as day-to-day. Coach Nolan will likely sit Hill for their upcoming game against Cornell at home and bring him back to play Nolan's old school the USC Upstate Spartans in Orlando.

University of Central Florida (6-2) at Seton Hall (7-2)
December 17, 2013 1 2 F University of Central Florida 49 47 96 Seton Hall 41 65 106 Top Performers University of Central Florida - Stats Pearson Shannon - 33 Pts, 5 Reb, 1 Stl, 1 Blk Kody Kleinzweig - 28 Pts, 5 Reb, 2 Ast, 1 Stl, 1 Blk Seton Hall - Stats Jackson Augustine - 27 Pts, 4 Reb, 1 Ast, 1 Stl Mamadou Riddle - 17 Pts, 2 Reb, 4 Ast, 3 Stl, 1 Blk	Team Stat Comparison UCF SHU FG Made-Attempted 40-76 36-71 3P Made-Attempted 0-5 6-16 FT Made-Attempted 16-25 28-33 Rebounds 29 40 Assists 32 20 Steals 12 13 Blocks 2 4 Turnovers 14 16 Fastbreak Points 16 12

[nolan887]

UCF vs. Cornell

KNIGHTS SLOW DOWN THEIR OFFENSE, BOUNCE BACK FROM LOSS

UCF Knights (7-2) vs. Cornell Big Red (3-8)
UCF Arena
Orlando, FL
December 21, 2013

Orlando, FL - The Knights again were able to quickly bounce back from their last loss, this time against perennial Ivy League winner Cornell Big Red. While Cornell is having a down year this year, holding a 3-8 record currently, the Knights were able to easy gain their seventh win of the season. Coming out of halftime with a fourteen point lead, Coach Nolan played mostly his bench players the second half. The Knights finally were able to cut down on turnovers this game, only coughing the ball up eight times. The bench players changed UCF's current style of run and gun and tried to set up some plays, and really milk the clock in the second half. Kleinzweig, 20 points, 15 rebounds, and Shannon, 14 points, 5 rebounds, 2 blocks, both had big first halves, and earned their rest in preparation for the USCU Spartans.

"Kody and Pearson put up some great first half numbers, and we were able to rest them for most of the second half," Nolan explained after the game. "Dom is still out with that groin injury, so it was nice to let him rest and not need him on the floor for a close game. As you can see from the scorecard, we shot 0-4 from deep, and as I have said all season we really need to find some more outside scoring threats. The starters and bench players were all great today and I am very proud of all of my guys. We are now focusing on my old team in USC Upstate. It's not that big of a deal to play them as part of the reason I accepted this job at UCF is because eight players graduated last year from the Spartans' Final Four team. The freshman that I recruited there will more than likely want to show me what I am missing out on, and I am certainly up to the challenge."

The game against USC Upstate should be interesting indeed. The Spartans have zero returning starters from their Final Four team last year, and it will only be their thirteenth game under their new head coach. It will certainly be an interesting match up and we are all looking forward to seeing how USCU's freshman play in an attempt to show up their would-be head coach. If UCF can keep their turnovers down and keep playing defense like they did tonight, they should be able to come out with another victory. The Knights held Cornell to 28% from the field tonight, only allowing 48 points which is their lowest allowed all season.

Cornell University (3-8) at University of Central Florida (7-2)
December 21, 2013 1 2 F Cornell University 23 25 48 University of Central Florida 37 23 60 Top Performers Cornell University - Stats Demon Badu - 13 Pts, 8 Reb, 1 Ast, 1 Stl, 3 Blk Hecktor Kelley - 9 Pts, 3 Reb, 2 Ast, 2 Blk University of Central Florida - Stats Kody Kleinzweig - 20 Pts, 15 Reb, 1 Stl, 1 Blk Pearson Shannon - 14 Pts, 5 Reb, 1 Stl, 2 Blk	Team Stat Comparison CU UCF FG Made-Attempted 19-67 23-66 3P Made-Attempted 2-20 0-4 FT Made-Attempted 8-11 14-21 Rebounds 29 49 Assists 14 15 Steals 8 8 Blocks 14 6 Turnovers 11 8

[nolan887]

Re: The Legacy of Coach Nolan (ch2k8)

NOLAN'S OLD SCHOOL STRUGGLES, KNIGHTS WIN BIG

UCF Knights (8-2) vs. USCU SPARTANS (4-9)
UCF Arena
Orlando, FL
December 21, 2013

Orlando, FL - One of the deciding factors of Nolan leaving the USCU Spartans after a trip to the Final Four was because all five of his starters and three of his bench players were graduating seniors. With an inexperience team and a new coach, Upstate is looking in a state of disarray. Kody Kleinzweig continues to produce for the Knights, recording another double-double with 23 points, 13 rebounds, and 2 blocks. Pearson Shannon had a lousy game due to a continuing problem with fouls. If Shannon wants to see his points per game continue to help his team win, he will need to find a way to play smarter on defense. Eddie Carlson came off the bench as Shannon's replacement and was able to put up a respectable 14 points. With Dominik Hill still recovering from a groin injury, the Knights went 0-2 from deep. Luckily it was not a close game again, and the Knights did not miss his presence too much as the bench players recorded a lot of playing time and spent the second half mostly running plays and slowing the ball down to ensure the Spartans would not get enough touches to spur a comeback.

Coach Nolan was very happy with another big win headed towards conference play. "We had a second great game in a row. We were able to get it going down low in the first half and rest our starters most of the second half. Kody was great as usual, and Eddie was very good coming off the bench. Pearson is still struggling with staying out of foul trouble, but it is something we are working on. Dom is feeling better and is a game time decision to play against the [Loyal Marymount] Lions and will definitely be back to play against the [Radford] Highlanders next week. Eddie Stiles had a pretty good game for the Spartans despite our stout defense and I had a chance to talk to him after the game. He is obviously disappointed that I am not coaching him this year, but he said there are no hard feelings, and wished me the best at UCF. It is great to see such a young kid have such a grown up attitude. For now, we are looking forward to playing a tough Loyola Marymount team, and then Radford at home before we start our Conference USA schedule."

The Knights struggled again from deep, going 0-2, but were able to get to the line for 33 foul shots and cashed in on 20 of those shots. Armando Ross, Kody Kleinzweig, Pearson Shannon, and Eddie Carlson also came up big in helping UCF win the rebounding battle 43-30. For the second straight game, the Knights were able to keep their turnovers in single digits. It looks like Nolan's preaching of rebounding and ball control are really starting to show. If the Knights can keep Shannon out of foul trouble and keep a handle on the ball, they should be able to make a strong push to win the conference this season. Loyal Marymount is evenly matched with the Knights in all aspects of the game, and it looks like this is one that might come down to the wire.

University of South Carolina Upstate (4-9) at University of Central Florida (8-2)
December 28, 2013 1 2 F University of South Carolina Upstate 32 20 52 University of Central Florida 46 30 76 Top Performers University of South Carolina Upstate - Stats Eddie Stiles - 21 Pts, 3 Reb, 2 Ast Younes Klatsky - 10 Pts, 1 Reb, 2 Ast, 1 Blk University of Central Florida - Stats Kody Kleinzweig - 23 Pts, 13 Reb, 1 Ast, 1 Stl, 2 Block Eddie Carlson - 14 Pts, 4 Reb	Team Stat Comparison USCU UCF FG Made-Attempted 21-57 28-54 3P Made-Attempted 3-16 0-2 FT Made-Attempted 7-8 20-33 Rebounds 30 43 Assists 13 21 Steals 6 12 Blocks 3 3 Turnovers 18 9

[nolan887]

USF vs. LMU

KNIGHTS FINALLY CLOSE OUT AGAINST GOOD COMPETITION

UCF Knights (9-2) vs. LMU Lions (6-8)
UCF Arena
Orlando, FL
December 30, 2013

Orlando, FL - Many critics were have been commenting lately on Nolan's easy pre-conference schedule and how the Knights have been blowing out their lowly competition. After this game, the critics should be silenced. The Loyola Marymount Lions have an overall team rating of 83 versus UCF's 72 but the Knights were able to play their game for forty minutes and the outcome was great. Both of the Knights' losses this season game to teams with above 80 overall ratings and going into this game it looked like they might drop a third. The Lions came out fired up and jumped out to an early ten point lead. The Knights responded after putting on a 1-2-1-1 press and forcing a few turnovers and score off of each. Going into the half up five points, this game certainly looked like another match up where UCF would go cold and lose big but this time the Knights had a little something left in the tank.

The Lions came out of the locker room to score a quick three, cutting the Knights' lead to just two points. After that, the momentum quickly shifted back to UCF. The Knights would go on a big run pushing their lead to as much as twenty eight points, and never look back. Kody Kleinzweig and Pearson Shannon both put up solid games down low and kept the Lions' big men in foul trouble all game, both ended with 4 fouls each. Kleinzweig put up 27 points, grabbed 2 boards, and dished out 2 assists and Shannon put up 16 points, grabbed 7 boards, had 2 assists, and 2 blocked shots. Due to the Lions' foul trouble, none of the players Loyola Marymount's starting lineup scored double digit points. Their top two performers came off the bench to put up 12 and 13 points.

"Great effort, great win," Coach Nolan commented after the game. "We went out and executed our game plan perfectly. It was great to finally keep up our intensity in the second half against a good team. UNLV and Seton Hall came out and smoked us in our two losses this season, but this game we slowed it down in the second half, played great defense, and crashed the boards hard. We've got one more game against Radford, but we are already focusing on our conference schedule and looking forward to keeping up our recent success."

Radford is struggling this season, off to a 2-8 record, but could serve as a trap game for UCF. If they overlook their last non conference opponent, it may hurt the overall team attitude. Being the lowest rated overall team in Conference USA and losing an easy game could spell disaster for the Knights' second half of the season. Continued good play from UCF's big men both starters and bench players has led to their great start and will hopefully continue for the rest of the season.

Loyola Marymount (6-8) at University of Central Florida (9-2)
December 30, 2013 1 2 F Loyola Marymount 41 25 66 University of Central Florida 46 39 85 Top Performers Loyola Marymount - Stats Louis Geason - 13 Pts, 2 Reb, 1 Ast Marquise Guy - 12 Pts, 1 Reb University of Central Florida - Stats Kody Kleinzweig - 27 Pts, 2 Reb, 2 Ast, 1 Stl Pearson Shannon - 16 Pts, 7 Reb, 2 Ast, 1 Stl, 2 Blk	Team Stat Comparison LMU UCF FG Made-Attempted 28-61 31-62 3P Made-Attempted 4-14 2-2 FT Made-Attempted 6-7 21-28 Rebounds 25 34 Assists 19 22 Steals 11 6 Blocks 5 2 Turnovers 17 11

[nolan887]

UCF vs. Radford

KNIGHTS START THE NEW YEAR OFF RIGHT, CRUISE INTO CONFERENCE PLAY

UCF Knights (10-2) vs. Radford Highlanders (2-10)
UCF Arena
Orlando, FL
January 4, 2014

Orlando, FL - What some deemed a trap game for the UCF Knights turned into another home blowout win. The Knights were down for a total of two minutes the whole game before going on a run to go up by as much as thirty points in the first half. Dominik Hill returned from his groin injury and recorded 11 points, shooting 2-3 from deep, 3 rebounds, and 1 steal, all in the first half. With a 26 point halftime lead, the Knights played their bench players in the second half and put it on cruise control on their way to the tenth win of the season.

"Everyone contributed today," Coach Nolan said after the game. "We didn't have Kody and Pearson putting the game on their backs like they usually do, we spread the ball around and everyone was scoring. We wanted to get Dom some good looks in the first half to see if his shot was effected at all by his injury and putting up 11 points showed everyone that he will be just fine. With big wins the past few games, our starters should be well rested heading out to UTEP next week."

At the end of pre-conference play, the Knights certainly look like they won't be finishing last in C-USA as predicted before the season. Dominik Hill, UCF's seemingly only outside threat is back on the roster and should help take the load off of Pearson Shannon and Kody Kleinzweig.

Radford University (2-10) at University of Central Florida (10-2)
January 4, 2014 1 2 F Radford University 31 28 59 University of Central Florida 57 24 81 Top Performers Radford University - Stats Howard Devonish - 16 Pts, 1 Ast Hubert Soto - 5 Pts, 6 Reb, 5 Blk University of Central Florida - Stats Nicholas Simmons - 12 Pts, 2 Reb, 1 Ast, 2 Stl Dominik Hill - 11 Pts, 3 Reb, 1 Stl	Team Stat Comparison RU UCF FG Made-Attempted 20-56 32-68 3P Made-Attempted 3-16 4-13 FT Made-Attempted 16-20 13-20 Rebounds 25 44 Assists 11 16 Steals 8 12 Blocks 6 3 Turnovers 13 10

[nolan887]

Top 25 Polls

MID-SEASON TOP 25 POLLS

Media Top 25:
1. USC (14-0)
2. Arizona (14-0)
3. Maryland (15-0)
4. Tennessee (12-0)
5. Michigan State (14-0)
6. Syracuse (12-1)
7. Miami (11-1)
8. Wisconsin (12-1)
9. Texas (12-3)
10. Oklahoma (12-2)
11. Iowa State (14-0)
12. Auburn (11-1)
13. Florida (13-1)
14. Illinois (12-3)
15. Connecticut (12-2)
16. NC State (11-3)
17. Indiana (11-1)
18. Oregon (11-3)
19. California (10-3)
20. Texas A&M (9-3)
21. West Virginia (11-3)
22. UNLV (10-2)
23. Saint Joseph's (12-1)
24. Saint Louis (12-1)
25. Mississippi (11-3)

Mid-Major Top 25:
1. Gonzaga (12-3)
2. Nevada (12-4)
3. Troy (9-3)
4. Davidson (10-3)
5. Boise State (9-2)
6. George Mason (8-5)
7. Hofstra (9-6)
8. San Francisco (9-4)
9. Delaware (10-4)
10. New Mexico State (11-2)
11. Eastern Kentucky (11-1)
12. Siena (11-3)
13. William & Mary (8-5)
14. Wisconsin - Green Bay (10-3)
15. Butler (8-5)
16. Canisius (9-7)
17. UL Lafayette (8-4)
18. Fresno State (9-5)
19. Youngstown State (12-4)
20. Eastern Michigan (9-4)
21. Pacific (8-4)
22. UNC Wilmington (11-3)
23. Fairfield (8-5)
24. Manhatten (9-5)
25. Long Beach State (6-6)

[Deuce2223]

Re: Top 25 Polls

Big win over LMU. I really enjoyed my time there with Coach Young. Looks like you are off to a solid start going 11-2. 20 wins should be pretty easy for you and hopefully a nice run in the tourney will have UCF making noise across the nation.


Happy to see Boise State and Eastern Washington both playing well. Now if only UC Davis could get things going.

[nolan887]

Re: Top 25 Polls

Big win over LMU. I really enjoyed my time there with Coach Young. Looks like you are off to a solid start going 11-2. 20 wins should be pretty easy for you and hopefully a nice run in the tourney will have UCF making noise across the nation.


Happy to see Boise State and Eastern Washington both playing well. Now if only UC Davis could get things going.

Haha for sure. UC Davis Aggies may or may not be doing amazing. I'll leave the judgment up to you haha. Thanks for following. I have a big standardized test on Saturday (6 am - 5 pm) but after that I should blast through the conference play. The only bad news is that I've simmed 3 times and Memphis with Coach Calapari has won the conference tourney all 3 times... I'm a bit worried because my good record as you have noted came against crap teams. But the good news is that I am definitely on my way to becoming a ranked team and giving Calapari a run for his money in our weak conference.

[superjames1992]

Re: Top 25 Polls

Haha for sure. UC Davis Aggies may or may not be doing amazing. I'll leave the judgment up to you haha. Thanks for following. I have a big standardized test on Saturday (6 am - 5 pm) but after that I should blast through the conference play. The only bad news is that I've simmed 3 times and Memphis with Coach Calapari has won the conference tourney all 3 times... I'm a bit worried because my good record as you have noted came against crap teams. But the good news is that I am definitely on my way to becoming a ranked team and giving Calapari a run for his money in our weak conference.

Yikes, an 11-hour test sounds brutal. That sucks.

Good start so far, although it's somewhat deceiving since your schedule has been quite fluffy. That said, you look like you may be able to give Memphis a run for their money in C-USA this year.