The stakes are high for both teams when UCF travels to No. 23 BYU for a pivotal Big 12 Conference showdown on Tuesday in Provo, Utah.
With two straight wins, the Knights have firmed up their place squarely on the NCAA Tournament bubble. UCF (19-7, 8-6 Big 12) is ranked No. 46 in the NCAA NET. It is 9-7 in Quadrant 1 and 2 games. The Knights are 10-0 in Quad 3 and 4 games. So while UCF doesn’t have any bad losses, it did start February with a three-game losing streak.
Consecutive wins, an 82-71 home win over fellow bubble mate TCU on Tuesday was followed up with a 73-71 nailbiter of a road win at Utah on Saturday. Themus Fulks led the way against the Utes with 24 points and hit a pair of free throws in the closing seconds for the Knights to escape with a win.
It was a win that kept the Knights’ Quad 3 and 4 sheet clean and it came without their co-leading scorer Riley Kugel (14.0 points per game). Kugel was injured late in the TCU game. The senior guard had started all 25 games. Reserve guard Carmelo Pacheco (5.0 points) was questionable before the Utah game but offered six points off the bench.
“Riley is still day-to-day,” UCF coach Johnny Dawkins said. “Pacheco did a great job of giving us a lift in both halves (against Utah).”
Conversely, it appears BYU (20-7, 8-6) is inside the NCAA Tournament cut line. The Cougars are No. 19 in the NET and picked up a valuable 79-69 home win against No. 6 Iowa State on Saturday.
But it has been an up-and-down month for the Cougars. BYU is just 3-3 in February and lost second-leading scorer Richie Saunders, who averaged 18 points per game and 5.8 rebounds, to a torn ACL on Feb. 14 in a home win over Colorado.
“We’ve faced a lot of adversity and no one has blinked,” BYU coach Kevin Young said. “They’ve stayed together and have kept working.”
Against the Cyclones, the Cougars sprung the upset as AJ Dybantsa stuffed the stat sheet with 29 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists. In Saunders absence, Kennard Davis Jr., who averages 7.8 points per game, racked up 17 points and pitched in four rebounds. Mihailo Boskovic (3.5 points) also exceeded his average with 13 points and five rebounds.
The senior from Serbia, Boskovic had just three starts this season and played 28 minutes against Iowa State, well above his season average of 12.9.
“I think there’s a lot to be said for opportunity and confidence,” Young said. “Those guys understand with Richie out their numbers are going to get called more. There’s a little more of a deep breath. They don’t have to press because they know the ball is going to come to them a little more.
“With Mihailo he knows he is going to play more minutes, so it’s a little easier to get into a rhythm when you have that mindset. At the same time, they get all the credit because they have stayed ready and they have been able to deliver.”
