UCF finally showed life.
Seniors stepped up after several games where coach Donnie Jones asked for some leadership. Tacko Fall showed everything he can be and the impact his size and presence can cause. The Knights had the their best team performance in some time.
And ultimately it did not matter. When the Knights needed to dig out a rebound on two occasions, they could not. And the Temple Owls, fighting to stay in the NCAA Tournament picture, made them pay.
In a tie game with 30 seconds to play, A.J. Davis failed to collect a rebound along the baseline. Temple missed a shot with two seconds left on the shot clock, but got the offensive rebound.
That set up Quenton DeCosey to put in the final nail.
DeCosey drove in on the defense, pump faked to get the defender by him and leaned in from the elbow to drain a jumper with 3.2 seconds left and deliver Temple a 63-61 win at the Liacouras Center in Philadelphia on Saturday after A.J. Davis’ half-court heave hit off the front rim.
Pulling all the strings they could, the Knights just could not pull far enough away early or make the plays late. This despite UCF getting a stellar performance from Fall and some big plays from senior leaders throughout the roster.
Tacko Fall set a tone early in the game with some early points and changing shots by his mere presence. He had 13 points, 14 rebounds and five blocks in playing a career-high in minutes.
It was clear coach Donnie Jones was struggling to manage his minutes while searching for anything to keep his team in the game. The Knights lost their early lead when Fall went to the bench and quickly regained it and got back into the game with Fall in.
But Fall was out with his fourth foul late in the game as Temple’s small lineup drew him away from the basket. The gamble to keep Fall on the bench paid off with Staphon Blair providing some much-needed minutes. Justin McBride played, but was still limited by his shoulder injury that kept him out Wednesday.
Blair recorded a key block with about 90 seconds left that helped set up Daiquan Walker for the game-tying free throws. UCF got some big plays.
But even that possession was a mess. Daiquan Walker lost the ball and had to heave a rushed 3-pointer that had no chance of going in. Only a foul bailed him out. Walker made two of the three free throws to tie the game.
Walker stepped up too in the second half when Fall was out to keep the Knights in contact and prevent the Owls from pulling away.
He had 21 points on 5-for-11 shooting in his homecoming to Philadelphia as a senior. He forced the issue and made shots when the Knights needed them.
This was a game UCF had every capability of winning. It was just those momentary lulls again that proved to be the difference in an otherwise close game. Jones at least this time relied more heavily on his freshman center to provide his presence and deterrence in the lane.
UCF shot just 36.8 percent form the floor and made 8 of 30 3-pointers. There were missed opportunities on the floor. The Knights’ defense was a big reason for staying in this game.
When it came down to digging out the important rebound though, UCF could not get it. And Temple made UCF pay dearly.
