UCF had its way with UIC from the very beginning. The Knights won 88-58 at CFE Arena behind a balanced and complete defensive effort.
When UIC drove in the lane or posted up, the team was not likely expecting to leap Tacko Fall in a single bound. The Flames were also probably not thinking about facing the immovable object Justin McBride. Or the speedy defense of Chance McSpadden or the cutting play of Daiquan Walker.
There was no answer and a big part of the game was taken away for UIC. The Knights dug out the Flames and turned blocked shots into transition opportunities.
And it was not just Fall, who had fewer minutes than normal. It was A.J. Davis digging down and Justin McBride staying vertical to deflect shots and Staphon Blair coming from the weak side.
The defense sparked the offense as UCF attacked the basket and defeated UIC 88-58 at CFE Arena on Saturday.
“It’s fun. That’s what we do,” McBride said. “That’s what we practice every day. It was a good defensive game. We gave up a lot of offensive rebounds, which we will critique tomorrow in practice. As far as us playing defense, that’s a breath of fresh air. We have really been focusing on that all summer and the beginning of the season.”
The Knights set their tone defensively early with the shot blocking and ball pressure. UCF had at least nominal full-court pressure that fell back into a 1-3-1 zone defense. The bigs were blocking shots — 13 total blocks with three players tallying three — and the guards were forcing turnovers — 10 total steals for the Knights and 16 total turnovers forced.
The zone defense, Jones said, enabled the team to keep its bigs in the paint where it could challenge shots and limit UIC’s strong post players. The Flames could not get their better players going until the second half when the game was already out of hand.
The Flames were succumbing the pressure at all points. They could not get off the ground and shot only 9 for 31 in the first half.
“It definitely makes the offense easier,” McSpadden said. “When we get steals, we get easy buckets. We tried to finish the easy buckets and the game comes way more easier. It feels good to get out and play a good defensive game.”
That put them in a hole very early. UCF started the game going up 13-1 early in the game.
UCF never looked back from there. The pressure kept building and players like McSpadden and Davis kept getting out in transition and cutting through the defense with ease.
McSpadden had eight points, six assists and five steals. It was backup point guard Daiquan Walker who provided a huge scoring punch. He had 21 points on 5-for-11 shooting and 3-for-4 shooting from beyond the arc.
The Knights as a team shot 45.6 percent from the floor and made six of their seven made 3-pointers in the second half. They were dominant in every facet, not needing the late-game heroics or let down they have had in the first five games.
“We’ve been talking about how many good minutes we have played in some games,” coach Donnie Jones said. “At Miami, we felt we got out and played pretty well early in the game and we didn’t finish in the last 10 minutes of the game. From the start, we got out to a 13-1 start, we were able to sustain it.”
The attack from the team was strong throughout. The Knights took 37 free throws in the game, including 22 in the first half. UCF was aggressive from the start, pushing the tempo and getting into the paint.
The Knights were by far the aggressor and the Flames seemed taken aback from the start. The momentum of starting the game deflated with the defense early on.
And UCF’s depth just kept UIC on the defensive. Whether it was McBride relieving Fall or Blair coming in or Walker or Matt Williams and Tanksley Efianayi or whoever. Everyone on the roster seemed to contribute a little to the win.
“Any team that can establish an inside presence, inside-out, we have plenty of guys who can shoot the basketball,” Jones said. “We have the ability to grind people on the inside. It wears people down.”
It has been a slog for the Knights. There have been games where the team has struggled to close out. They have played some good teams early on. That was done by design.
The team has come through it better. And they finally got a big win with everything clicking. Something positive to build on.
