ORLANDO, Fla. – It’s been a season of many firsts for the UCF Knights.

The Knights defeated the Memphis Tigers for the first time ever in Memphis on Feb. 11, and, on Saturday, the Knights beat the SMU Mustangs for the first time ever in American Athletic Conference play.

Redshirt senior A.J. Davis led UCF (17-9, 8-6 in AAC) with a 19-point, 10-rebound double-double, as he and the Knights beat SMU 52-37 Saturday morning at CFE Arena.

“Like, I’m playing at a good pace. You know, I’m catching it in my spots; I’m catching it where I want to,” Davis said after the win. “So I’m just kinda really slowing down and, you know, just learning through experiences…and that’s kinda calming me down and making the game a lot easier for me.”

SMU cut the Knights eight-point halftime lead to five about six minutes into the second half, but that was as close as the Mustangs got to the Knights. UCF increased its lead to 11 points off a layup by Davis, and UCF never looked back.

The Knights’ lead peaked at 19 at the 5:49 mark after Davis drained one of his four 3s. Davis shot 6-for-13 from the field, including 4-for-7 from 3-point range.

For Knights head coach Johnny Dawkins, this is the best form he’s seen Davis in since he joined the staff before the start of last season.

“You know, it is [the best I’ve seen Davis play],” Dawkins said after the win. “And I mean in every way. I mean, of course, he’s scoring the ball; everyone’s seeing that. And he’s always been capable. As I said before, I’m happy to see him get rewarded for all the hard work I see him put in, and nobody’s more deserving because he works at it, he works at it.

“To see it come together, now, it’s been fun for me.”

UCF started the game with an impressive defensive effort, holding SMU to just 2 field goals and 4 free throws in nearly the first 12 minutes. The Mustangs trailed the Knights 17-4 before Jahmal McMurray and Elijah Landrum drained back-to-back 3s to cut UCF’s lead to seven.

Dayon Griffin quickly responded with a 3 of his own to make it a 10-point game, again, but another McMurray jumper, with 5:46 to play in the first half, brought SMU within as close as five points.

“He’s a big-time scorer, a big-time shooter,” Davis said. “I even played him early he was at [the University of South Florida], and he was scoring, you know, back then. So, he’s an even more mature, evolved version. He’s a great scorer and a great player. I think we just tried to make him take some tough shots and tried to get him out of rhythm early.”

Knights star point guard B.J. Taylor had a quiet night, aggravated, again, by another lower-body injury. He rolled his right ankle in the former stages of the second half, an injury he’s been dealing with since last month.

In total, he scored 7 points on 1-for-6 shooting, including 0-for-2 from 3-point range and 5-for-6 from the free-throw line, and added 3 rebounds and 2 assists. He substituted out of the game in the last three minutes when UCF held a 19-point lead.

Playing without Taylor has been a situation UCF is familiar with. The redshirt junior missed most of the non-conference schedule after fracturing his left foot in the season-opener against Mercer University.

Taylor played in his first game since Mercer in a 49-38 loss to the then-No. 12 Cincinnati Bearcats but has periodically had to manage his right ankle.

“You guys are asking about injuries and stuff a lot, you know. We have a lot of questions about that, but that’s just who we are now,” Davis said. “… That’s just kind of our culture–the next man up, the next-play mentality. That’s just kind of who we built ourselves into and, you know, what we learned from Coach and what we learned from our experiences.”

Who’s Next?

The Knights take to the road for their final two road games of the regular season, traveling to face the fourth-place Tulsa Golden Hurricane on Wednesday at 9 p.m. and Temple on Feb. 25 at 2 p.m.

For more on the Knights, as they take to the road for their last regular-season road trip of the 2017-18 season, follow Victor Tan on Twitter at @NDR_VictorTan.

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