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UCF fans storm court after upset victory over Kansas

20200517_134556by:Justin Rudolph•01/10/24
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Jan 10, 2024; Orlando, Florida, USA; UCF Knights forward Ibrahima Diallo (11) blocks a shot by Kansas Jayhawks guard Kevin McCullar Jr. (15) during the first period at Addition Financial Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mike Watters-USA TODAY Sports

For the second night in a row, there has been a significant upset in men’s college basketball. On Tuesday, the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the nation, Purdue and Houston, suffered upset defeats. And on Wednesday night, the No. 3 team in men’s college basketball, the Kansas Jayhawks, followed suit, losing to the UCF Knights on the road, 65-60, in Orlando, FL, in front of a sold-out Addition Financial Arena.

That sold-out arena made their presence known all night long with a ruckus environment for the Knights. And following the victory, the UCF faithful stormed the core to celebrate the massive win over Kansas.

With the victory, UCF is now 10-4 on the season and 1-1 in Big 12 play. Kansas drops to 13-2 and now shares the same conference record as the Knights at 1-1.

The UCF bigs made it a long night for Kansas and their star center, Hunter Dickinson. Dickinson, who came into the game averaging a double-double with 19.4 points and 12.4 rebounds, was held to just 12 points and four rebounds in the contest. The tandem of Ibrahima Diallo and CJ Walker limited his presence in the paint as the duo combined for four of the Knights’ seven blocks.

In the end, defense was the name of the game as the UCF was able to force Kansas into having another 15-plus turnover night with 18 turnovers in the game. They were also disciplined with their own ball defense, which resulted in just 11 total free throw attempts for the Jayhawks, of which they made six. Also, UCF’s perimeter defense was suffocating the Jayhawks, allowing just six makes on 18 attempts.

Another Big 12 top-10 program falls on Wednesday

Wednesday night ended up being a night of upsets for the Big 12 conference as the two highest-ranked teams who played ended up adding a tally to their loss column. After Kansas loss to UCF, the No. 9 ranked Oklahoma Sooners found themselves on the wrong end of an upset courtesy of the TCU Horned Frogs.

On paper, this will go down as an upset. However, TCU is far from an underdog program. The Horned Frogs men’s basketball team has been a consistent threat in the Big 12 as of late, making the NCAA men’s championship tournament the past two seasons. This year, TCU has been led by the play of senior forward Emanuel Miller, who entered Wednesday night’s contest averaging 16.3 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 2.7 assists per game. Against Oklahoma, he came up even bigger for the Horned Frogs. Miller finished the game with a game-high 27 points on 11-17 shooting from the field. He was also the games leading rebounder and one shy of a double-double with nine boards.