Tacko Fall’s Season-high 18 Points Help UCF Beat Southern

(Photo by Victor Tan / New Day Review)
(Video by Victor Tan / New Day Review)

Game Recap

ORLANDO, Fla. – An early-season hip injury kept center Tacko Fall out of the starting lineup to start the season. The junior showed signs of returning to form, scoring a game-high, season-high 18 points to lead UCF (6-3) to a 76-60 win over Southern University (2-7) Saturday afternoon at CFE Arena.

“It was a tough game, coming off of finals week, and, you know, I had seen Southern play a lot of games this preseason, and they’re a tough team,” Knights head coach Johnny Dawkins said after the game. “You know, they’re a great shooting team; they have a great inside player in [Jared] Sam, and it took a heck of a defensive effort, but I’m really proud of our guys, especially in the second half. I thought we were as efficient as we’ve been all year.”

UCF created the separation it needed to win the game early in the second half. With just over 17 minutes to play, forward A.J. Davis and Ceasar DeJesus drained back-to-back 3s for the Knights’ first double-digit lead of the game. Southern came as close as six points at the 15-minute mark, but efficient second-half shooting and timely 3s kept the Knights ahead.

In the second half, UCF improved in all facets of its offense. The Knights shot 55.6 percent in the final period, hitting four of their 11 3s and going 8-for-9 from the free-throw line. UCF also reduced its turnovers to five second-half giveaways.

“You know, we still haven’t gotten off to the starts I would like for us to get off to, and I think, partly, we have to do better on the defensive end,” Dawkins said. “You know, I’m a big believer that defense kinda sets the tone for what you do… [Southern] got off to a good start, and we found ourselves having to battle back. I think they went up 7-2. So we found ourselves, you know, playing catch-up a good portion of the first half, and that’s something that we can’t allow to have happen.”

After Southern’s Emanuel Sheperd’s jumper made it a six-point game with just over 15 minutes to play, a tip-in by Davis and a Dayon Griffin fast-break layup gave UCF another double-digit lead. UCF managed its highest lead of the game, an 18-point advantage, by the 1:41 mark in the second after Fall’s layup gave him his final points of the game.

Guard Djordjije Mumin played an essential role in the win over Southern. His three first-half 3s helped the Knights to a narrow, 34-32 lead, as he led UCF with nine points. But despite UCF shooting 50 percent while holding Southern to 37.5 percent in the first half, the Knights only held a two-point lead at halftime. Southern turned eight first-half UCF turnovers into eight points, totaling 19 points off turnovers for the game.

“It’s what Djordjije does, you know? He’s always prepared for his moment,” Davis said after the win. “He stays ready; he keeps on working hard no matter what, you know, whether he’s the last guy off the bench or starting. You know, he just does his job, so, you know, when his number was called, he was ready for it, and it’s really been beneficial for our team.”

Sam, who Dawkins said was one of the best bigs his team will face all season, was held to 13 points on 6-for-16 shooting, despite averaging nearly 17 points per game entering the UCF matchup. In addition to Davis, freshman Myles Douglas was tasked with defending the four-year vet.

“We did a good job of just helping each other out. We put a couple different guys on him. You know, we just forced him to where we, you know, wanted him to go, and, you know, he’s a great player. We’re just trying to contain him, and we just did a great job of playing defense on him together.”

Player of the Game: C Tacko Fall

Fall led all scorers with a season-high 18 points over the Jaguars; his previous high was  He also added a game-high nine rebounds, including three offensive boards. He finished his night 8-for-10 from the field and made two of his three free throws. Fall also recorded a steal.

“I think Tacko was real efficient tonight. I thought, you know, we found him, and that’s something that we wanna do,” Dawkins said. “We wanna get him the basketball when he has the opportunity to receive it and make plays. We think his aggressiveness was there. He is hungry on the offensive end.”

Tacko Fall Slowly Emerging from Injury

Fall dealt with a season-opening hip injury that kept him out of the Knights’ first two games of the season. Since then, he’s averaged 10.2 points per game and 6.0 rebounds per game in five starts and six appearances before facing Southern.

Against the Jagaurs, he was virtually unstoppable in the post, shooting 80 percent from the field and even completing an and-1 late in the first half.

Fall said he’s not 100-percent healthy yet.

“I’m getting there,” Fall said after the game. “It’s a day-to-day process. I’m in the gym working. The guys are helping me out; the coaches are helping me out, so it’s just a day-to-day thing.”

Fall regularly used baseline spin moves when he found one-on-one matchups with undersized defenders in the post. For the third-year Knight, he’s significantly more comfortable down low than he was a season ago.

“I would say [I’m] very comfortable [in the post],” he said. “I mean, I worked on it all summer. I didn’t really take a break. Right after the season ended last year, I was in the gym. The coach had great people working with us, so I think I’m really comfortable working in the post now—definitely more than I was last year.”

What’s next?

The Knights will conclude a two-game home stand on Tuesday against Southeastern Louisiana University at 7 p.m.

Highlights

We kept up our winning ways today!

Check out all the @GreatClips from the win over Southern right here 👇 pic.twitter.com/lSLXRiBDGJ

— UCF Men’s Basketball (@UCF_MBB) December 10, 2017

NDR Notes

• Fall scored a season-high 18 points. His previous high was 13.
• Mumin scored a career-high 12 points on a career-high four made 3s. His previous high was 11.
• The win over Southern is the Knights’ second double-digit win of the season.
• UCF’s win over Southern was its first win over the Jaguars in three meetings.

Scoring

Statistics and Starting Lineups

Team Leaders

Team Statistics

Shooting Percentages

UCF Knights starting lineup: Terrell Allen (G), Djordjije Mumin (G), Ceasar DeJesus (G), A.J. Davis (F), Tacko Fall (C)

Southern Jaguars starting lineup: Jamar Sandifer (G), Chris Thomas (G), Eddie Reese (G), Emanuel Sheperd (F), Jared Sam (F)

For more on the Knights, as they prepare to conclude their two-game home stand against Southeastern Louisiana, follow Victor Tan on Twitter at @NDR_VictorTan.