• Final stats

ORLANDO, Fla. – The Houston Cougars traveled to face the UCF Knights and to hold onto third place in the American Athletic Conference.

Knights leading man B.J. Taylor finished the game with a team-leading 15 points, scoring 11 in the final 10 minutes, but it wasn’t enough for a win. Houston (17-5, 7-3 in AAC) won 69-65 at CFE Arena Saturday afternoon.

“Every loss in conference hurts. This one hurts. Great opportunity for us,” Taylor said after the Knights’ third home loss in 12 tries. “Give them a lot of credit. They came out and played hard.”

UCF clawed its way out of a second-half, 11-point hole and came within two points with less than 10 minutes to play. Trailing 50-43, Taylor, who only had 4 points to this point, scored on back-to-back buckets to make it a 50-48 game.

Taylor started the personal, 5-0 run with a layup. He brought the Knights within one possession of the Cougars with his first 3 of the game.

Houston elevated its lead to seven points twice before Taylor and the Knights continued their comeback effort. Taylor pushed the Knights within two points twice, first assisting on a Dayon Griffin 3-pointer with 2:43 to play. Cougars leading scorer Rob Gray hit a layup on the ensuing possession, but Taylor responded with a layup of his own to make it a 63-61 game.

“He understands his role. Like I said, we described that last year, and we worked through that all last season,” Dawkins said of Taylor after the loss. “So he knows what he’s supposed to do for us at different points in time in the game, and he did what he’s told to do.

“He knows to be assertive down the stretch, you know, and make sure we execute and get what we want every time down, and I thought he put himself in that position.”

Taylor had an opportunity to tie the game after Gray missed a jumper on Houston’s next possession, but his turnaround, mid-range attempt from the left elbow careened off the rim.

That miss allowed Houston to make it a two-possession game, again, as forward Devin Davis scored inside with 59 seconds to play. Davis made it a six-point game with back-to-back free throws on the Cougars’ next possession, effectively ending the game.

“I thought I could take a lot from the second half. I thought we had some opportunities,” Dawkins said. “It was a two-point game. We have a good look with our best player getting the shot, so I’ll take that all day long. A mid-range jumper–you know, he had time and space for the shot. It just didn’t fall for us.

“But, you know, we had our chances to win the game at the end. We just didn’t come through.”

The Knights trailed by double digits with just under four minutes to play in the first half, as Galen Robinson Jr. hit a layup for a 32-22 lead before a UCF timeout. Houston only elevated its lead to as high as 11 points, as Ceasar DeJesus hit two free throws before halftime to make it a nine-point game.

UCF, however, started slowly, trailing the Cougars 15-8. Houston’s early run was negated, as UCF went on its own 7-2 run led by guard Chance McSpadden. Playing in his second game back from injury, McSpadden started the run with a 3-pointer off an assist by Taylor.

The redshirt sophomore made two free throws three possessions later, as backup center Rokas Ulvydas completed the run with an inside look for his first poitns of the game.

“I think we came out kinda slow, so, yeah, we were kinda playing catch-up after a slow start,” forward A.J. Davis said after the game. “You know, we played better in the second half, but, you know, after trailing in the first, it was just kinda tough.

“You know, they made plays, and they made some plays, and we didn’t make some plays, and it came down to that in the end.”

Gray led all scorers with 20 points 7-for-15 shooting, including 5-for-8 from the free-throw line. He added 5 assists and a game-high 3 steals in a game-leading 38 minutes.

Corey Davis Jr. was Houston’s only other double-digit scorer, as he recorded 15 points on 5-for-11 shooting in 35 minutes.

“First, I always give credit to the player. I mean, I was in his shoes before. You give credit to that guy; he’s a heck of a player,” Dawkins said of Gray. “He’s one of the best players in the country at the guard position and one of the best guards in our conference, of course.”

Who’s Next?

UCF will travel for its next two games, first facing the No. 8 Cincinnati Bearcats on Tuesday and then the Memphis Tigers on Feb. 11.

For more on the Knights, as they take to the road for a two-game road trip, follow Victor Tan on Twitter at @NDR_VictorTan.

To contact Victor, you can email him at vtan@newdayreview.com.