UCF Knights used strong shooting from beyond the arc and at the free throw line, including 10 from A.J. Davis, to defeat the USF Bulls and move to 2-0.
UCF improved to 2-0 in American and 8-5 overall with a 75-64 win over South Florida thanks in part to the long-ball shooting of Adonys Henriquez and Matt Williams.
It is the first time since 2012 that the Knights have started 2-0 in conference play. Henriquez and Williams combined to go 8 for 15 from the 3-point line while the rest of the Knights went just 1 for 8.
Henriquez and Williams helped the Knights get off to a great start in the first half as the Knights led at one point led 31-16 in the first half. The Bulls ended the first half on a 16-4 run led by Jaleel Cousins to go into halftime trailing only 35-32.
Cousins, who is the younger brother of Sacramento Kings center DeMarcus Cousins, led the Bulls with 19 points and 13 rebounds.
In the second half, it was another player who was related to a former NBA player that took over.
A.J. Davis, the son of former NBA player Antonio Davis, took over the second half scoring 14 of his 16 points and helping the Knights get past the Bulls.
Two key categories decided the game. First was the 3-point line, where UCF as a team went 9 for 23 while USF went 3 for 8. The other was at the free-throw line where the Knights went 20 for 25 from the line including 15 for 16 at the charity stripe in the final 10:47 of the game.
Davis was a big part of that as he kept attacking the basket and was rewarded by going to the line 10 for 10.
The competition goes up for the Knights next as they travel to Dallas to take on the defending conference champion SMU Mustangs on Sunday.
