PHILADELPHIA — The UCF Knights‘ anticipated March Madness return ended with a disappointing one-and-done.
Eric Dailey Jr. led four Bruins in double figures with 20 points, and seventh-seeded UCLA (24-11) forced 17 turnovers in a 75-71 win over the 10th-seeded Knights (21-12) on March 20 at Xfinity Mobile Arena. The Bruins advance to meet the winner of the UConn-Furman match to close the day’s first-round NCAA men’s basketball tournament action.
UCF trailed by as many as 14 in its first taste of March Madness since 2019. The Knights knocked down 12 3-pointers after a 6-for-45 long-range shooting display at the Big 12 tournament in Kansas City, Mo.
Their woes instead occurred at the free throw line, missing 11 of 16 attempts. Sophomore center John Bol, who checked out for part of the second half with a head injury, was 0 for 5 with his unorthodox release.
Jordan Burks had a team-high 22 points for the Knights, and Riley Kugel added 13 in his final game for his hometown school. Jamichael Stillwell grabbed seven of the UCF’s 25 offensive rebounds.
UCLA head coach Mick Cronin improved to 5-2 all-time in head-to-head meetings against UCF’s Johnny Dawkins, dating back to their biannual American Conference rivalry when Cronin coached Cincinnati.
UCF squanders fast start with 11 first-half turnovers
Out of the gate, UCF could not have envisioned a much better start with an immediate 6-0 lead and UCLA mired in an 0-for-7 shooting slump. However, the Knights squandered the momentum with sloppiness, committing 11 turnovers in the first half alone.
UCLA took advantage with 14 points off takeaways and nine on the fastbreak. The Bruins ranked fourth in the Big Ten in steals during the regular season and surpassed their season average (6.6) with nine in the opening 20 minutes.
The Bruins mounted an 11-0 run in the middle of the first half and held a double-digit lead for roughly 7½ minutes until Devan Cambridge and Carmelo Pacheco gave UCF a much-needed lift with back-to-back buckets from 3-point range.
Full-court press sparks 2nd-half mini comeback for UCF
As they did to pull off a fairly miraculous late-game rally against Cincinnati in the Big 12 tournament, UCF created havoc with a switch to a full-court press. The Knights forced back-to-back turnovers, and Jordan Burks nailed a pair of 3s.
Cambridge drilled one of his own as the Knights scrambled to avoid a shot-clock violation, cutting the deficit to 46-43 with 14 minutes left.
Momentum shifted back in the Bruins’ favor when UCF came up empty on a three-on-two fastbreak. Themus Fulks attacked the lane as two defenders converged, and the fifth-year point guard left his layup attempt short.
The Bruins scored 12 of the next 13 points, including a backbreaker of a second-chance 3 by Xavier Booker, to re-establish control of the game.
UCLA leading scorer Tyler Bilodeau sits out due to injury
Tyler Bilodeau, UCLA’s leading scorer during the season at 17.6 points per game, went through pregame warmups but sat out due to a mild right knee sprain suffered in a Big Ten tournament win over Michigan State.
Bilodeau, a 6-foot-9, 235-pound senior from Kennewick, Washington, clutched his knee after his leg buckled while defending Carson Cooper in the post.
Following the Bruins’ semifinal loss to Purdue, Cronin said, “Tyler could have played,” but was held out as a precaution.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: UCF vs UCLA in March Madness: Eric Dailey Jr leads Bruins to 2nd round