AJ Davis’ Second-consecutive Double-double Leads UCF over William & Mary

(Photo by Victor Tan / New Day Review)

Game Recap

ORLANDO, Fla. – Early-season growing pains haven’t slowed the UCF Knights through their first three games. Even with star point guard B.J. Taylor due to miss four to six weeks because of a fractured foot suffered in the season-opener, the Knights have started their season with an undefeated mark. That’s largely due in part to forward A.J. Davis’ production in the early-season going. His 17-point, 11-rebound double-double helped the Knights (3-0) win 75-64 over the College of William & Mary (1-2) in front of an announced attendance of 4,143 fans at CFE Arena.

“You know, it was a good test for us against, like I said, you know, a really good team from the standpoint of how they execute,” Knights head coach Johnny Dawkins said after the game. “[William & Mary] runs one of those systems that it’s difficult to guard, and I thought our guys, being that this is the first time they’ve seen a team play that way, defended it well. I think we won this game because of how we defended.”

The Knights broke away from William & Mary with a 12-4 run with under six minutes remaining in the game. Leading 55-50, team-high scorer Chance McSpadden orchestrated UCF’s run, contributing five points and two assists. It began when McSpadden slashed into the paint for a layup. Center Tacko Fall, who was making his 2017-18 season debut, then chipped in two points from the free-throw line. McSpadden subsequently hit his first three-pointer of the game before assisting on a Fall slam dunk. Davis capped the run with his only three-pointer of the game to give the Knights a 13-point, 67-54 lead.

“You know, I love Chance’s game. I love the way he prepared,” Dawkins said. “I called him out after the game about that. I said, ‘You prepare real well,’ so it’s no surprise he has nights like this. It was a matter of time before he was gonna break out and have a game like this because his preparation is really good. It’s a very mature approach to the game, and he’s a good player.”

UCF erased another closely contested first half and a one-point deficit with a 14-3 run at the start of the final half. Dayon Griffin, who went 0-for-9 and 0-for-6 from three-point range in the first period, started the run with a three-pointer. After UCF scored six more points on two Davis free throws and layups from Ceasar DeJesus and McSpadden, William & Mary’s Matt Milon hit a three-pointer. Griffin negated those points, though, with his second and final three-pointer of the game. McSpadden capped the run with a jumper to solidify a 43-36 lead.

William & Mary responded with a run of its own to pull within one point of UCF. A 10-4 Tribe run began with two Justin Pierce free throws. After a layup by Fall, Tribe leading scorer Nathan Knight hit a jumper, and Milon scored another three-pointer. Davis subsequently earned two more of his 17-point total with a fast-break dunk after two misses and a turnover by the Tribe.

“It’s defense. Coach been going to the locker room at halftime. He said we have to pick it up defensively, and that’s what we did,” McSpadden said after the win. “And as a team, we knew we had to come together and do that, and that’s what we did.”

The Tribe presented a unique challenge for the Knights, as they entered the game attempting more than 30 free throws per game. Against UCF, William & Mary shot just 5-for-7 from the free-throw line, all coming in the second half.

On the perimeter, it was the Tribe’s three-point shooting that kept them in the game. At halftime, UCF trailed 30-29 because of William & Mary’s threes and UCF’s lack of them. The Tribe went 4-for-14 from long range in the first half, and UCF went 0-for-8. William & Mary ultimately finished 9-for-28 from three-point range, much to the satisfaction of UCF’s second-year head coach.

“I thought our three-point defense wasn’t bad,” Dawkins said. “You know, I think for a team that I know is a terrific three-point shooting team, a lot of times, they have five guys out there that are capable of making a three-point shot—I thought we defended the line fairly well. And that’s something that I really concentrated on going into this game. I thought our last two opponents shot the ball well from behind the arc, and we really wanted to start knocking these numbers down percentage-wise from behind the three-point line, and I thought we did that tonight.”

Player of the Game: F A.J. Davis

In another Taylor-less game, the Knights looked to Davis and both his consistent rebounding and scoring to lead them to victory. Davis showed off why he’s known as being one of the most versatile players for the Knights, tallying 17 points, 11 rebounds (three offensive), three assists and a steal. He shot an efficient 6-for-10 from the field, 1-for-2 from three-point range and 4-for-5 from thre free-throw line and turned the ball over only one time.

What’s next?

The Knights will compete in the 2017 Advocare Invitational in Lake Buena Vista. UCF will first play the Nebraska Cornhuskers on Thursday at 6 p.m. on ESPN3.

Terrell Allen Left 1st Half with Injury, Did not Return to Game

Point guard Terrell Allen was thrust into a starting role when Taylor suffered a foot fracture two games ago. Against Gardner-Webb University, he led the Knights to a 68-65 victory on 12 points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals. Allen’s day against the Tribe was cut short, however, as took a hard landing after leaping for a block near the left baseline.

Dawkins is still unsure of his full status.

“Terrell is doing, you know—he’s doing okay. You know, he hurt his hip. It’s sore right now,” the head coach said. “I think we’ll know another day or so, exactly the extent of it. But he took a fall when he tried to block a shot and just landed on his hip. So he got a little bit of a contusion there, so we’ll see how it responds in the next few days.”

Allen, who is very meticulous about his shot selection, was poised to have a standout game, draining the game’s first shot attempt. He left the game after six minutes with two points, two rebounds and an assist.

Highlights

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NDR Notes

• In the win over William & Mary, Davis recorded his third-straight game with double-digit rebounds. He had 11 against the Tribe.
• Fall made his 2017-18 season debut against William & Mary. He went 5-for-5 from the field and 3-for-4 from the free-throw line, finishing with 13 points, seven rebounds and a block.
• McSpadden scored a season-high 18 points, his most since scoring a career-high 21 points against Stetson University in 2015-16.
• Davis recorded his second-straight double-double with his 17-point, 11-rebound performance against William & Mary.
• Griffin started the game slowly, shooting 0-for-9 from the field and 0-for-6 from three-point range.
• Entering Saturday’s game, William & Mary averaged 30.5 free-throw attempts per game. Against UCF, the Tribe went 5-for-7 on free throws; all seven were taken in the second half.

Scoring

Statistics and Starting Lineups

Team Leaders

Team Statistics

Shooting Percentages

UCF Knights starting lineup: Terrell Allen (G), Ceasar DeJesus (G), Dayon Griffin (G), A.J. Davis (F), Chad Brown (F)

William & Mary Tribe starting lineup: David Cohn (G), Justin Pierce (G), Matt Milon (G), Paul Rowley (F), Nathan Knight (F)

For more on the Knights, as they take to the road for the first time this season, follow Victor Tan on Twitter at @NDR_VictorTan.