Re: The Legacy of Coach Nolan (ch2k8)
UCF'S MIRACLE SEASON COMES TO A CRASHING HALT
UCF'S MIRACLE SEASON COMES TO A CRASHING HALT
#4 UCF Knights 30-4 at #12 Kansas Jayhawks 24-12
Cox Arena
San Diego, CA
March 22, 2014
San Diego, CA - The Kansas Jayhawks were simply too much for the UCF Knights to handle tonight. Coach Nolan coached the Knights to his first ever 30 win season this year, and took the Knights from the bottom to the top of the conference in his first season as head coach, but was helpless against a hot Kansas team on this night. Kansas jumped out to a quick 12-2 lead before the Knights spurred a 13-0 run making the score 15-12. After this point, the Knights would not see the lead for the rest of the game. Fouls plagued the entire starting lineup and forced J.J. Bone, Dominik Hill, and Pearson Shannon to sit almost ten minutes of the first half. The Knights went on a run to close out the first half and cut the lead from as much as 18 points to just 8 going into the break. Coming out of the half, the Knights were playing inspired basketball with their starters back in, but costly foul mistakes took them right back out of the game. UCF would struggle to stay in the game at all and went on a run at the end of the game to make the final score only a ten point loss. Although the only lost by ten points, the Knights were outplayed and out-coached the entire length of the game. Coach Nolan, who only signed a one year deal with the club, will likely be offered a contract extension in the near future.
"I'm not even thinking about next year right now," a disappointed and angry Nolan commented. "We played like absolute garbage today. I tell them not to foul, they foul. I tell them to play smart, they foul. I tell them to sit down on the bench, they foul. It is such a shame that our great season ended so poorly. The team that played today in our uniforms was not the team I have been coaching all season. Yea, it is great to just make the tournament, but this group of guys had enough potential to make a deep run in the tournament, but just cashed it in. I am very disappointed in our play today. It's a shame that Kody in his last game was the only one who showed up to play, if I were him I would have a few things to say to my teammates in the locker room after the game."
The Jayhawk full court press was on all game and the UCF guards struggled to break it all game long. The Knights turned the ball over eighteen times, on top of that, the Jayhawks recorded seventeen steals. Many of the Jayhawks points came off of easy layups caused by steals and turnovers. Another issue for the Knights was their free throw shooting. They made it to the line for 40 shots, but were only able to convert 26 times. Also, when the Knights were fouled they did not make the basket once, so there was never an opportunity for a three point play on any of the Kansas fouls. A ray of light in an otherwise dark loss was the Knights' defense of Jelenic. The Jayhawk's senior guard Jonas Jelenic is projected to be a top pick in the upcoming NBA draft, but the Knights managed to hold him to 1-6 from the floor and 0-2 from deep. Jelenic did however cash in from the stripe shooting 8-9 from the line, ending with 10 points, 1 rebound, 6 assists, and 4 steals.
Cox Arena
San Diego, CA
March 22, 2014
San Diego, CA - The Kansas Jayhawks were simply too much for the UCF Knights to handle tonight. Coach Nolan coached the Knights to his first ever 30 win season this year, and took the Knights from the bottom to the top of the conference in his first season as head coach, but was helpless against a hot Kansas team on this night. Kansas jumped out to a quick 12-2 lead before the Knights spurred a 13-0 run making the score 15-12. After this point, the Knights would not see the lead for the rest of the game. Fouls plagued the entire starting lineup and forced J.J. Bone, Dominik Hill, and Pearson Shannon to sit almost ten minutes of the first half. The Knights went on a run to close out the first half and cut the lead from as much as 18 points to just 8 going into the break. Coming out of the half, the Knights were playing inspired basketball with their starters back in, but costly foul mistakes took them right back out of the game. UCF would struggle to stay in the game at all and went on a run at the end of the game to make the final score only a ten point loss. Although the only lost by ten points, the Knights were outplayed and out-coached the entire length of the game. Coach Nolan, who only signed a one year deal with the club, will likely be offered a contract extension in the near future.
"I'm not even thinking about next year right now," a disappointed and angry Nolan commented. "We played like absolute garbage today. I tell them not to foul, they foul. I tell them to play smart, they foul. I tell them to sit down on the bench, they foul. It is such a shame that our great season ended so poorly. The team that played today in our uniforms was not the team I have been coaching all season. Yea, it is great to just make the tournament, but this group of guys had enough potential to make a deep run in the tournament, but just cashed it in. I am very disappointed in our play today. It's a shame that Kody in his last game was the only one who showed up to play, if I were him I would have a few things to say to my teammates in the locker room after the game."
The Jayhawk full court press was on all game and the UCF guards struggled to break it all game long. The Knights turned the ball over eighteen times, on top of that, the Jayhawks recorded seventeen steals. Many of the Jayhawks points came off of easy layups caused by steals and turnovers. Another issue for the Knights was their free throw shooting. They made it to the line for 40 shots, but were only able to convert 26 times. Also, when the Knights were fouled they did not make the basket once, so there was never an opportunity for a three point play on any of the Kansas fouls. A ray of light in an otherwise dark loss was the Knights' defense of Jelenic. The Jayhawk's senior guard Jonas Jelenic is projected to be a top pick in the upcoming NBA draft, but the Knights managed to hold him to 1-6 from the floor and 0-2 from deep. Jelenic did however cash in from the stripe shooting 8-9 from the line, ending with 10 points, 1 rebound, 6 assists, and 4 steals.
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